Government:
The United Kingdom
is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a
queen and a Parliament that has two houses: the House of Lords, with
574 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, 26 bishops, and the House of
Commons, which has 651 popularly elected members. Supreme legislative
power is vested in Parliament, which sits for five years unless
sooner dissolved. The House of Lords was stripped of most of its
power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise legislation. In
Nov. 1999 hundreds of hereditary peers were expelled in an effort to
make the body more democratic. The executive power of the Crown is
exercised by the cabinet, headed by the prime minister.

Religions:
Church of England (established church), Church of Wales
(disestablished), Church of Scotland (established
church—Presbyterian), Church of Ireland (disestablished), Roman
Catholic, Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, Jewish

Monarchy,
form of government in which sovereignty is vested in a single person
whose right to rule is generally hereditary and who is empowered to
remain in office for life. The power of this sovereign may vary from
the absolute to that strongly limited by custom or constitution.
Monarchy has existed since the earliest history of humankind and was
often established during periods of external threat or internal
crisis because it provided a more efficient focus of power than
aristocracy or democracy, which tended to diffuse power. Most
monarchies appear to have been elective originally, but dynasties
early became customary. In primitive times, divine descent of the
monarch was often claimed. Deification was general in ancient Egypt,
the Middle East, and Asia, and it was also practiced during certain
periods in ancient Greece and Rome. A more moderate belief arose in
Christian Europe in the Middle Ages; it stated that the monarch was
the appointed agent of divine will. This was symbolized by the
coronation of the king by a bishop or the pope, as in the Holy Roman
Empire. Although theoretically at the apex of feudal power, the
medieval monarchs were in fact weak and dependent upon the nobility
for much of their power. During the Renaissance and after, there
emerged “new monarchs” who broke the power of the nobility and
centralized the state under their own rigid rule. Notable examples
are Henry VII and Henry VIII of England and Louis XIV of France. The
16th and 17th cent. mark the height of absolute monarchy, which found
its theoretical justification in the doctrine of divine right.
However, even the powerful monarchs of the 17th cent. were somewhat
limited by custom and constitution as well as by the delegation of
powers to strong bureaucracies. Such limitations were also felt by
the “benevolent despots” of the 18th cent. Changes in
intellectual climate, in the demands made upon government in a
secular and commercially expanding society, and in the social
structure, as the bourgeoisie became increasingly powerful,
eventually weakened the institution of monarchy in Europe. The
Glorious Revolution in England (1688) and the French Revolution
(1789) were important landmarks in the decline and limitation of
monarchical power. Throughout the 19th cent. Royal power was
increasingly reduced by constitutional provisions and parliamentary
incursions. In the 20th cent., monarchs have generally become symbols
of national unity, while real power has been transferred to
constitutional assemblies. Over the past 200 years democratic
self-government has been established and extended to such an extent
that a true functioning monarchy is a rare occurrence in both East
and West. Among the few remaining are Brunei, Morocco, and Saudi
Arabia. Notable constitutional monarchies include Belgium, Denmark,
Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Thailand.

Constitutional monarchy:System of
government in which a monarch has agreed to share power with a
constitutionally organized government. The monarch may remain the de
facto head of state or may be a purely ceremonial head. The
constitution allocates the rest of the government's power to the
legislature and judiciary. Britain became a constitutional monarchy
under the Whigs; other constitutional monarchies include Belgium,
Cambodia, Jordan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and
Thailand.

THE BRITISH CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

"The
British Constitutional Monarchy was the consequence of the Glorious
Revolution of 1688, and was enshrined in the Bill of Rights of 1689.
Whereby William and Mary in accepting the throne, had to consent to
govern 'according to the statutes in parliament on."

A
monarch does not have to curry favour for votes from any section of
the community.

A monarch is almost invariably more
popular than an Executive President, who can be elected by less than
50% of the electorate and may therefore represent less than half the
people. In the 1995 French presidential election the future President
Chirac was not the nation's choice in the first round of voting. In
Britain, governments are formed on the basis of parliamentary seats
won. In the 1992 General Election the Conservative Prime Minister
took the office with only 43% of votes cast in England, Scotland and
Wales. The Queen however, as hereditary Head of State, remains the
representative of the whole nation.

Elected presidents are concerned more with their own
political futures and power, and as we have seen (in Brazil for
example), may use their temporary tenure to enrich themselves.
Monarchs are not subject to the influences which corrupt short-term
presidents. A monarch looks back on centuries of history and forward
to the well being of the entire nation under his/her heir. Elected
presidents in their nature devote much energy to undoing the
achievements of their forebears in order to strengthen the position
of their successors.

A long reigning monarch can put enormous experience at
the disposal of transient political leaders. Since succeeding her
father in 1952 Queen Elizabeth has had a number of Prime Ministers,
the latest of whom were not even in Parliament at the time of her
accession. An experienced monarch can act as a brake on over
ambitious or misguided politicians, and encorage others who are less
confident. The reality is often the converse of the theory: the
monarch is frequently the Prime Minister's best adviser.

Monarchs, particularly those in
Europe are part of an extended Royal Family, facilitating links
between their nations. As Burke observed, nations touch at their
summits. A recent example of this was the attendance of so many
members of Royal Families at the 50th birthday celebrations for
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustav. Swedish newspapers reported that
this this was a much better indication of their closeness to the rest
of Europe than any number of treaties, protocols or directives from
the European Union.

A monarch is trained from Birth for
the position of Head of State and even where, as after the abdication
of Edward VIII, a younger brother succeeds, he too has enormous
experience of his country, its people and its government. The people
know who will succeed, and this certainly gives a nation invaluable
continuity and stability. This also explains why it is rare for an
unsuitable person to become King. There are no expensive elections as
in the US where, as one pro-Monarchist American says, "we have
to elect a new ' Royal Family' every four years." In the French
system the President may be a member of one party, while the Prime
Minister is from another, which only leads to confused governement.
In a monarchy there is no such confusion, for the monarch does not
rule in conflict with government but reigns over the whole nation.

In ceremonial presidencies the Head
of State is often a former politician tainted by, and still in thrall
to, his former political life and loyalties, or an academic or
retired diplomat who can never have the same prestige as a monarch,
and who is frequently little known inside the country, and almost
totally unknown outside it. For example, ask a German why is
Britain's Head of State and a high proportion will know it is Queen
Elizabeth II. Ask a Briton, or any Non- German, who is Head of State
of Germany? , and very few will be able to answer correctly.

Aided by his immediate family, a monarch can carry out a
range of duties and public engagements - ceremonial, charitable,
environmental etc. which an Executive President would never have time
to do, and to which a ceremonial President would not add lustre.

A monarch and members of a Royal
Family can become involved in a wide range of issues which are
forbidden to politicians. All parties have vested interests which
they cannot ignore. Vernon Bogdanor says in ' The Monarchy and the
Constitution' - «A politician must inevitably be a spokesperson for
only part of the nation, not the whole. A politician's motives will
always be suspected. Members of the Royal Family, by contrast,
because of their symbolic position, are able to speak to a much wider
constituency than can be commanded by even the most popular political
leader." In a Republic, then, who is there to speak out on
issues where the 'here today, gone tomorrow' government is
constrained from criticising its backers, even though such criticism
is in the national interest.

All nations are made up of families, and it's natural
that a family should be at a nation's head.

While the question of Divine Right is now obsolescent,
the fact that "there's such divinity doth hedge a King"
remains true, and it is interesting to note that even today Kings are
able to play a role in the spiritual life of a nation which
presidents seem unable to fulfil.

It has been demonstrated that, even ignoring the
enormous cost of presidential elections, a monarch as head of state
is no more expensive than a president. In Britain many costs, such as
the upkeep of the Royal residencies, are erroneosly thought to be
uniquely attributable to the monarchy, even though the preservation
of our heritage would still be undertaken if the county were a
republic! The US government has criticised the cost to the Brazilian
people of maintaining their president.

Even Royal Families which are not reigning are dedicated
to the service of their people, and continue to be regarded as the
symbol of the nation's continuity. Prominent examples are H.R.H. the
Duke of Braganza in Portugal and H.R.H. the County of Paris in
France. Royal Families forced to live in exile, such as the Yugoslav
and Romanian, are often promoters of charities formed to help their
countries.

KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND

The history of the English Crown up to the Union of the
Crowns in 1603 is long and varied. The concept of a single ruler
unifying different tribes based in England developed in the eighth
and ninth centuries in figures such as Offa and Alfred the Great, who
began to create centralised systems of government. Following the
Norman Conquest, the machinery of government developed further,
producing long-lived national institutions including Parliament.

The Middle Ages saw several fierce contests for the
Crown, culminating in the Wars of the Roses, which lasted for nearly
a century. The conflict was finally ended with the advent of the
Tudors, the dynasty which produced some of England's most successful
rulers and a flourishing cultural Renaissance. The end of the Tudor
line with the death of the 'Virgin Queen' in 1603 brought about the
Union of the Crowns with Scotland.

THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGS

In the Dark Ages during the fifth and sixth centuries,
communities of peoples in Britain inhabited homelands with
ill-defined borders. Such communities were organised and led by
chieftains or kings. Following the final withdrawal of the Roman
legions from the provinces of Britannia in around 408 AD these small
kingdoms were left to preserve their own order and to deal with
invaders and waves of migrant peoples such as the Picts from beyond
Hadrian's Wall, the Scots from Ireland and Germanic tribes from the
continent. (King Arthur, a larger-than-life figure, has often been
cited as a leader of one or more of these kingdoms during this
period, although his name now tends to be used as a symbol of British
resistance against invasion.)

The invading communities overwhelmed or adapted existing
kingdoms and created new ones - for example, the Angles in Mercia and
Northumbria. Some British kingdoms initially survived the onslaught,
such as Strathclyde, which was wedged in the north between Pictland
and the new Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria.

By 650 AD, the British Isles were a patchwork of many
kingdoms founded from native or immigrant communities and led by
powerful chieftains or kings. In their personal feuds and struggles
between communities for control and supremacy, a small number of
kingdoms became dominant: Bernicia and Deira (which merged to form
Northumbria in 651 AD), Lindsey, East Anglia, Mercia, Wessex and
Kent. Until the late seventh century, a series of warrior-kings in
turn established their own personal authority over other kings,
usually won by force or through alliances and often cemented by
dynastic marriages.

According to the later chronicler Bede, the most famous
of these kings was Ethelberht, king of Kent (reigned c.560-616), who
married Bertha, the Christian daughter of the king of Paris, and who
became the first English king to be converted to Christianity (St
Augustine's mission from the Pope to Britain in 597 during
Ethelberht's reign prompted thousands of such conversions).
Ethelberht's law code was the first to be written in any Germanic
language and included 90 laws. His influence extended both north and
south of the river Humber: his nephew became king of the East Saxons
and his daughter married king Edwin of Northumbria (died 633).

In the eighth century, smaller
kingdoms in the British Isles continued to fall to more powerful
kingdoms, which claimed rights over whole areas and established
temporary primacies: Dalriada in Scotland, Munster and Ulster in
Ireland. In England, Mercia and later Wessex came to dominate,
giving rise to the start of the monarchy.

Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period the succession was
frequently contested, by both the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and leaders
of the settling Scandinavian communities. The Scandinavian influence
was to prove strong in the early years. It was the threat of invading
Vikings which galvanised English leaders into unifying their forces,
and, centuries later, the Normans who successfully invaded in 1066
were themselves the descendants of Scandinavian 'Northmen'.

Known as the first King of All
England, he was forced into exile at the court of Charlemagne, by the
powerful Offa, King of Mercia. Egbert returned to England in 802 and
was recognized as king of Wessex. He defeated the rival Mercians at
the battle of Ellendun in 825. In 829, the Northumbrians accepted his
overlordship and he was proclaimed "Bretwalda" or sole
ruler of Britain.

ÆTHELWULF (839-55 AD)

Æthelwulf
was the son of Egbert and a sub-king of Kent. He assumed the throne
of Wessex upon his father's death in 839. His reign is characterized
by the usual Viking invasions and repulsions common to all English
rulers of the time, but the making of war was not his chief claim to
fame. Æthelwulf is remembered, however dimly, as a highly religious
man who cared about the establishment and preservation of the church.
He was also a wealthy man and controlled vast resources. Out of these
resources, he gave generously, to Rome and to religious houses that
were in need.

He was an only child, but had fathered five sons, by his
first wife, Osburga. He recognized that there could be difficulties
with contention over the succession. He devised a scheme which would
guarantee (insofar as it was possible to do so) that each child would
have his turn on the throne without having to worry about rival
claims from his siblings. Æthelwulf provided that the oldest living
child would succeed to the throne and would control all the resources
of the crown, without having them divided among the others, so that
he would have adequate resources to rule. That he was able to provide
for the continuation of his dynasty is a matter of record, but he was
not able to guarantee familial harmony with his plan. This is proved
by what we know of the foul plottings of his son, Æthelbald, while
Æthelwulf was on pilgrimage to Rome in 855.

Æthelwulf was a wise and capable ruler, whose vision
made possible the beneficial reign of his youngest son, Alfred the
Great.

ÆTHELBALD
(855-8 (subking), 858-60)

While his father, Æthelwulf, was on pilgrimage to Rome
in 855, Æthelbald plotted with the Bishop of Sherbourne and the
ealdorman of Somerset against him. The specific details of the plot
are unknown, but upon his return from Rome, Æthelwulf found his
direct authority limited to the sub-kingdom of Kent, while Æthelbald
controlled Wessex.

Æthelwulf died in 858, and full control passed to
Æthelbald. Perhaps Æthelbald's premature power grab was occasioned
by impatience, or greed, or lack of confidence in his father's
succession plans. Whatever the case, he did not live long to enjoy
it. He died in 860, passing the throne to his brother, Æthelbert,
just as Æthelwulf had planned.

ÆTHELBERT (860-66 AD)

Very
little is known about Æthelbert, who took his rightful place in the
line of succession to the throne of Wessex at around 30 years of age.
Like all other rulers of his day, he had to contend with Viking raids
on his territories and even had to battle them in his capital city of
Winchester. Apparently, his military leadership was adequate, since,
on this occasion, the Vikings were cut off on their retreat to the
coast and were slaughtered, according to a contemporary source, in a
"bloody battle."

ÆTHELRED I (866-71 AD)

Anglo-Saxon king of Wessex, and son of King Æthelwulf,
who ruled England during a time of great pressure from the invading
Danes. He was an affable man, a devoutly religious man and the older
brother of Alfred the Great, his second-in-command in the resistance
against the invaders. Together, they defeated the Danish kings Bagseg
and Halfdan at the battle of Ashdown in 870.

ALFRED
«THE GREAT» (871-899)

Born at Wantage, Berkshire, in 849, Alfred was the
fifth son of Aethelwulf, king of the West Saxons. At their father's
behest and by mutual agreement, Alfred's elder brothers succeeded to
the kingship in turn, rather than endanger the kingdom by passing it
to under-age children at a time when the country was threatened by
worsening Viking raids from Denmark.

Since the 790s, the Vikings had been using fast mobile
armies, numbering thousands of men embarked in shallow-draught
longships, to raid the coasts and inland waters of England for
plunder. Such raids were evolving into permanent Danish settlements;
in 867, the Vikings seized York and established their own kingdom in
the southern part of Northumbria. The Vikings overcame two other
major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, East Anglia and Mercia, and their kings
were either tortured to death or fled. Finally, in 870 the Danes
attacked the only remaining independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Wessex,
whose forces were commanded by King Aethelred and his younger brother
Alfred. At the battle of Ashdown in 871, Alfred routed the Viking
army in a fiercely fought uphill assault. However, further defeats
followed for Wessex and Alfred's brother died.

As king of Wessex at the age of 21,
Alfred (reigned 871-99) was a strongminded but highly strung battle
veteran at the head of remaining resistance to the Vikings in
southern England. In early 878, the Danes led by King Guthrum seized
Chippenham in Wiltshire in a lightning strike and used it as a secure
base from which to devastate Wessex. Local people either surrendered
or escaped (Hampshire people fled to the Isle of Wight), and the West
Saxons were reduced to hit and run attacks seizing provisions when
they could. With only his royal bodyguard, a small army of thegns
(the king's followers) and Aethelnoth ealdorman of Somerset as his
ally, Alfred withdrew to the Somerset tidal marshes in which he had
probably hunted as a youth. (It was during this time that Alfred, in
his preoccupation with the defence of his kingdom, allegedly burned
some cakes which he had been asked to look after; the incident was a
legend dating from early twelfth century chroniclers.)

A resourceful fighter, Alfred reassessed his strategy
and adopted the Danes' tactics by building a fortified base at
Athelney in the Somerset marshes and summoning a mobile army of men
from Wiltshire, Somerset and part of Hampshire to pursue guerrilla
warfare against the Danes. In May 878, Alfred's army defeated the
Danes at the battle of Edington. According to his contemporary
biographer Bishop Asser, 'Alfred attacked the whole pagan army
fighting ferociously in dense order, and by divine will eventually
won the victory, made great slaughter among them, and pursued them to
their fortress (Chippenham) ... After fourteen days the pagans were
brought to the extreme depths of despair by hunger, cold and fear,
and they sought peace'. This unexpected victory proved to be the
turning point in Wessex's battle for survival.

Realising that he could not drive the Danes out of the
rest of England, Alfred concluded peace with them in the treaty of
Wedmore. King Guthrum was converted to Christianity with Alfred as
godfather and many of the Danes returned to East Anglia where they
settled as farmers. In 886, Alfred negotiated a partition treaty with
the Danes, in which a frontier was demarcated along the Roman Watling
Street and northern and eastern England came under the jurisdiction
of the Danes - an area known as 'Danelaw'. Alfred therefore gained
control of areas of West Mercia and Kent which had been beyond the
boundaries of Wessex. To consolidate alliances against the Danes,
Alfred married one of his daughters, Aethelflaed, to the ealdorman of
Mercia -Alfred himself had married Eahlswith, a Mercian noblewoman -
and another daughter, Aelfthryth, to the count of Flanders, a strong
naval power at a time when the Vikings were settling in eastern
England.

The Danish threat remained, and
Alfred reorganised the Wessex defences in recognition that efficient
defence and economic prosperity were interdependent. First, he
organised his army (the thegns, and the existing militia known as the
fyrd) on a rota basis, so he could raise a 'rapid reaction force' to
deal with raiders whilst still enabling his thegns and peasants to
tend their farms.

Second, Alfred started a building programme of
well-defended settlements across southern England. These were
fortified market places ('borough' comes from the Old English burh,
meaning fortress); by deliberate royal planning, settlers received
plots and in return manned the defences in times of war. (Such plots
in London under Alfred's rule in the 880s shaped the streetplan which
still exists today between Cheapside and the Thames.) This obligation
required careful recording in what became known as 'the Burghal
Hidage', which gave details of the building and manning of Wessex and
Mercian burhs according to their size, the length of their ramparts
and the number of men needed to garrison them. Centred round Alfred's
royal palace in Winchester, this network of burhs with strongpoints
on the main river routes was such that no part of Wessex was more
than 20 miles from the refuge of one of these settlements. Together
with a navy of new fast ships built on Alfred's orders, southern
England now had a defence in depth against Danish raiders.

Alfred's concept of kingship extended beyond the
administration of the tribal kingdom of Wessex into a broader
context. A religiously devout and pragmatic man who learnt Latin in
his late thirties, he recognised that the general deterioration in
learning and religion caused by the Vikings' destruction of
monasteries (the centres of the rudimentary education network) had
serious implications for rulership. For example, the poor standards
in Latin had led to a decline in the use of the charter as an
instrument of royal government to disseminate the king's instructions
and legislation. In one of his prefaces, Alfred wrote 'so general was
its [Latin] decay in England that there were very few on this side of
the Humber who could understand their rituals in English or translate
a letter from Latin into English ... so few that I cannot remember a
single one south of the Thames when I came to the throne.'

To improve literacy, Alfred arranged, and took part in,
the translation (by scholars from Mercia) from Latin into Anglo-Saxon
of a handful of books he thought it 'most needful for men to know,
and to bring it to pass ... if we have the peace, that all the youth
now in England ... may be devoted to learning'. These books covered
history, philosophy and Gregory the Great's 'Pastoral Care' (a
handbook for bishops), and copies of these books were sent to all the
bishops of the kingdom. Alfred was patron of the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle (which was copied and supplemented up to 1154), a patriotic
history of the English from the Wessex viewpoint designed to inspire
its readers and celebrate Alfred and his monarchy.

Like other West Saxon kings, Alfred established a legal
code; he assembled the laws of Offa and other predecessors, and of
the kingdoms of Mercia and Kent, adding his own administrative
regulations to form a definitive body of Anglo-Saxon law. 'I ...
collected these together and ordered to be written many of them which
our forefathers observed, those which I liked; and many of those
which I did not like I rejected with the advice of my councillors ...
For I dared not presume to set in writing at all many of my own,
because it was unknown to me what would please those who should come
after us ... Then I ... showed those to all my councillors, and they
then said that they were all pleased to observe them' (Laws of
Alfred, c.885-99).

By the 890s, Alfred's charters and coinage (which he had
also reformed, extending its minting to the burhs he had founded)
referred to him as 'king of the English', and Welsh kings sought
alliances with him. Alfred died in 899, aged 50, and was buried in
Winchester, the burial place of the West Saxon royal family.

By stopping the Viking advance and consolidating his
territorial gains, Alfred had started the process by which his
successors eventually extended their power over the other Anglo-Saxon
kings; the ultimate unification of Anglo-Saxon England was to be led
by Wessex. It is for his valiant defence of his kingdom against a
stronger enemy, for securing peace with the Vikings and for his
farsighted reforms in the reconstruction of Wessex and beyond, that
Alfred - alone of all the English kings and queens - is known as 'the
Great'.

EDWARD
«THE ELDER» (899-924)

Well-trained by Alfred, his son Edward 'the Elder'
(reigned 899-924) was a bold soldier who defeated the Danes in
Northumbria at Tettenhall in 910 and was acknowledged by the Viking
kingdom of York. The kings of Strathclyde and the Scots submitted to
Edward in 921. By military success and patient planning, Edward
spread English influence and control. Much of this was due to his
alliance with his formidable sister Aethelflaed, who was married to
the ruler of Mercia and seems to have governed that kingdom after her
husband's death.

Edward was able to establish an administration for the
kingdom of England, whilst obtaining the allegiance of Danes, Scots
and Britons. Edward died in 924, and he was buried in the New Minster
which he had had completed at Winchester. Edward was twice married,
but it is possible that his eldest son Athelstan was the son of a
mistress.

ATHELSTAN
(924-939)

Edward's
heir Athelstan (reigned 925-39) was also a distinguished and
audacious soldier who pushed the boundaries of the kingdom to their
furthest extent yet. In 927-8, Athelstan took York from the Danes; he
forced the submission of king Constantine of Scotland and of the
northern kings; all five Welsh kings agreed to pay a huge annual
tribute (reportedly including 25,000 oxen), and Athelstan eliminated
opposition in Cornwall.

The battle of Brunanburh in 937, in which Athelstan led
a force drawn from Britain and defeated an invasion by the king of
Scotland in alliance with the Welsh and Danes from Dublin, earned him
recognition by lesser kings in Britain.

Athelstan's law codes strengthened
royal control over his large kingdom; currency was regulated to
control silver's weight and to penalise fraudsters. Buying and
selling was mostly confined to the burghs, encouraging town life;
areas of settlement in the midlands and Danish towns were
consolidated into shires. Overseas, Athelstan built alliances by
marrying four of his half-sisters to various rulers in Western
Europe.

He also had extensive cultural and religious contacts;
as an enthusiastic and discriminating collector of works of art and
religious relics, he gave away much of his collection to his
followers and to churches and bishops in order to retain their
support.

Athelstan died at the height of his power and was buried
at Malmesbury; a church charter of 934 described him as 'King of the
English, elevated by the right hand of the Almighty ... to the Throne
of the whole Kingdom of Britain'. Athelstan died childless.

EDMUND I (939-46)

Son of Edward the Elder, succeeded his half-brother,
Æthelstan, with whom he had fought at Brunanburh. Combated the Norse
Vikings in Northumbria and subdued them in Cumbria and Strathclyde.
He entrusted these lands to an ally, Malcolm I of Scotland. Edmund
met his death when he was killed at Pucklechurch, in Gloucestershire,
by a robber.

EADRED (946-55)

King of Wessex and acknowledged as overlord of Mercia,
the Danelaw and Northumbria. A challenge to Eadred, which serves to
illustrate one of his chief qualities, developed in the north, in the
early 950's. Eric Bloodaxe, an aptly named, ferocious, Norse Viking
who had been deposed by his own people, established himself as king
of Northumbria at York, apparently with the fearful acquiescence of
the Northumbrians. Eadred responded by marching north with a
considerable force to meet the threat. He proceeded to ravage the
Norse-held territories, then moved back to the south. He was attacked
on the way home by Eric's forces. Eadred was so enraged that he
threatened to go back to Northumbria and ravage the entire land.

This prospect frightened the already frightened
Northumbrians into abandoning Eric Bloodaxe. It must be that they
viewed Eadred as more formidable than a bloodthirsty Viking, who had
been thrown out of a society known for its bloodthirstiness, because
he was too bloodthirsty and tyrannical for them. In any case,
according to the "AngloSaxon Chronicle", "the
Northumbrians expelled Eric."

As to his personal side, William of Malmesbury provides
some illumination. He says that Eadred was afflicted with some
lingering physical malady, since he was, "constantly oppressed
by sickness, and of so weak a digestion as to be unable to swallow
more than the juices of the food he had masticated, to the great
annoyance of his guests." Regarding his spiritual side,
apparently the pillaging, ravaging and laying waste that he did, had
no deleterious effects on him. As Malmesbury states, he devoted his
life to God, "endured with patience his frequent bodily pains,
prolonged his prayers and made his palace altogether the school of
virtue." He died while still a young man, as had so many of the
kings of Wessex, "accompanied with the utmost grief of men but
joy of angels."

EADWIG (EDWY) (955-59 AD)

On the death of Eadred, who had no children, Eadwig was
chosen to be king since he was the oldest of the children in the
natural line of the House of Wessex. He became king at 16 and
displayed some of the tendencies one could expect in one so young,
royalty or not. Historians have not treated Eadwig especially well,
and it is unfortunate for him that he ran afoul of the influential
Bishop Dunstan (friend and advisor to the recently deceased king,
Eadred, future Archbishop of Canterbury and future saint), early in
his reign. An incident, which occurred on the day of Eadwig's
consecration as king, purportedly, illustrates the character of the
young king. According to the report of the reliable William of
Malmesbury, all the dignitaries and officials of the kingdom were
meeting to discuss state business, when the absence of the new king
was noticed. Dunstan was dispatched, along with another bishop, to
find the missing youth. He was found with his mind on matters other
than those of state, in the company of the daughter of a noble woman
of the kingdom. Malmesbury writes, Dunstan, " regardless of the
royal indignation, dragged the lascivious boy from the chamber
and...compelling him to repudiate the strumpet made him his enemy
forever." The record of this incident was picked up by future
monastic chroniclers and made to be the definitive word on the
character of Eadwig, mainly because of St. Dunstan's role in it.

Dunstan was, after that incident,
never exactly a favorite of Eadwig's, and it may be fair to say that
Eadwig even hated Dunstan, for he apparently exiled him soon after
this. Eadwig went on to marry Ælgifu, the girl with whom he was
keeping company at the time of Dunstan's intrusion. For her part,
"the strumpet" was eventually referred to as among "the
most illustrious of women", and Eadwig, in his short reign, was
generous in making grants to the church and other religious
institutions. He died, possibly of the Wessex family ailment, when he
was only 20.

EDGAR
(959-975)

Edgar,
king in Mercia and the Danelaw from 957, succeeded his brother as
king of the English on Edwy's death in 959 - a death which probably
prevented civil war breaking out between the two brothers. Edgar was
a firm and capable ruler whose power was acknowledged by other rulers
in Britain, as well as by Welsh and Scottish kings. Edgar's late
coronation in 973 at Bath was the first to be recorded in some
detail; his queen Aelfthryth was the first consort to be crowned
queen of England.

Edgar was the patron of a great monastic revival which
owed much to his association with Archbishop Dunstan. New bishoprics
were created, Benedictine monasteries were reformed and old monastic
sites were re-endowed with royal grants, some of which were of land
recovered from the Vikings.

In the 970s and in the absence of Viking attacks, Edgar
- a stern judge - issued laws which for the first time dealt with
Northumbria (parts of which were in the Danelaw) as well as Wessex
and Mercia. Edgar's coinage was uniform throughout the kingdom. A
more united kingdom based on royal justice and order was emerging;
the Monastic Agreement (c.970) praised Edgar as 'the glorious, by the
grace of Christ illustrious king of the English and of the other
peoples dwelling within the bounds of the island of Britain'. After
his death on 8 July 975, Edgar was buried at Glastonbury Abbey,
Somerset.

EDWARD
II «THE MARTYR» (975-979)

The
sudden death of Edgar at the age of 33 led to a succession dispute
between rival factions supporting his sons Edward and Ethelred. The
elder son Edward was murdered in 978 at Corfe Castle, Dorset, by his
seven-year-old half-brother's supporters.

ETHELRED II «THE UNREADY» (979-1013 AND
1014-1016)

Ethelred, the younger son of Edgar, became king at the
age of seven following the murder of his half-brother Edward II in
978 at Corfe Castle, Dorset, by Edward's own supporters.

For the rest of Ethelred's rule (reigned 978-1016), his
brother became a posthumous rallying point for political unrest; a
hostile Church transformed Edward into a royal martyr. Known as the
Un-raed or 'Unready' (meaning 'no counsel', or that he was unwise),
Ethelred failed to win or retain the allegiance of many of his
subjects. In 1002, he ordered the massacre of all Danes in England to
eliminate potential treachery.

Not being an able soldier, Ethelred defended the country
against increasingly rapacious Viking raids from the 980s onwards by
diplomatic alliance with the duke of Normandy in 991 (he later
married the duke's daughter Emma) and by buying off renewed attacks
by the Danes with money levied through a tax called the Danegeld. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1006 was dismissive: 'in spite of it all,
the Danish army went about as it pleased'. By 1012, 48,000 pounds of
silver was being paid in Danegeld to Danes camped in London.

In 1013, Ethelred fled to Normandy when the powerful
Viking Sweyn of Denmark dispossessed him. Ethelred returned to rule
after Sweyn's death in 1014, but died himself in 1016.

SWEYN
(1013-1014)

The son of a Danish king, Sweyn 'Forkbeard' began
conquering territory in England in 1003, effectively devastating much
of southern and midland England. The English nobility became so
disillusioned with their existing king, Ethelred 'The Unready', that
they acknowledged Sweyn as king in 1013. Sweyn's reign was short, as
he died in 1014, but his son Canute the Great soon returned and
reclaimed control of England.

EDMUND II, IRONSIDE (1016)

Edmund was King of England for only a few months. After
the death of his father, Æthelred II, in April 1016, Edmund led the
defense of the city of London against the invading Knut Sveinsson
(Canute), and was proclaimed king by the Londoners. Meanwhile, the
Witan (Council), meeting at Southampton, chose Canute as King. After
a series of inconclusive military engagements, in which Edmund
performed brilliantly and earned the nickname "Ironside",
he defeated the Danish forces at Oxford, Kent, but was routed by
Canute's forces at Ashingdon, Essex. A subsequent peace agreement was
made, with Edmund controlling Wessex and Canute controlling Mercia
and Northumbria. It was also agreed that whoever survived the other
would take control of the whole realm. Unfortunately for Edmund, he
died in November, 1016, transferring the Kingship of All England
completely to Canute.

CANUTE
«THE GREAT» (1016-1035)

Son
of Sweyn, Canute became undisputed King of England in 1016, and his
rivals (Ethelred's surviving sons and Edmund's son) fled abroad. In
1018, the last Danegeld of 82,500 pounds was paid to Canute. Ruthless
but capable, Canute consolidated his position by marrying Ethelred's
widow Emma (Canute's first English partner - the Church did not
recognise her as his wife - was set aside, later appointed regent of
Norway). During his reign, Canute also became King of Denmark and
Norway; his inheritance and formidable personality combined to make
him overlord of a huge northern empire. During his
inevitable absences in Scandinavia, Canute used powerful English and
Danish earls to assist in England's government - English law and
methods of government remained unchanged.

A second-generation Christian for reasons of politics as
well as faith, Canute went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1027-8. (It was
allegedly Christian humility which made him reject his courtiers'
flattery by demonstrating that even he could not stop the waves;
later hostile chroniclers were to claim it showed madness.)

Canute was buried at Winchester. Given that there was no
political or governmental unity within his empire, it failed to
survive owing to discord between his sons by two different queens -
Harold Harefoot (reigned 1035-40) and Harthacnut (reigned 1040-42) -
and the factions led by the semi-independent Earls of Northumbria,
Mercia and Wessex.

HAROLD
HAREFOOT (1035-1040)

Harold Harefoot was the son of Canute and his first
wife, Elfgifu. The brothers began by sharing the kingdom of England
after their father's death - Harold Harefoot becoming king in Mercia
and Northumbria, and Harthacanute king of Wessex. During the absence
of Hardicanute in Denmark, his other kingdom, Harold Harefoot became
effective sole ruler. On his death in 1040, the kingdom of England
fell to Hardicanute alone.

HARDICANUTE
(1035-1042)

Harthacnut was the son of Canute and his second wife,
Emma, the widow of Ethelred II. His father intended Hardicanute to
become king of the English in preference to his elder brother Harold
Harefoot, but he nearly lost his chance of this when he became
preoccupied with affairs in Denmark, of which he was also king.
Instead, Canute's eldest son, Harold Harefoot, became king of England
as a whole. In 1039 Hardicanute eventually set sail for
England, arriving to find his brother dead and himself king.

EDWARD III, THE CONFESSOR (1042-66 AD)

The
penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, Edward was the oldest son of Æthelred
II and Emma. He had gone to Normandy in 1013, when his father and
mother had fled from England. He stayed there during the reign of
Canute and, at his death in 1035, led an abortive attempt to capture
the crown for himself. He was recalled, for some reason, to the court
of Hardicanute, his half-brother.

Canute had placed the local control of the shires into
the hands of several powerful earls: Leofric of Mercia (Lady Godiva's
husband), Siward of Northumbria and Godwin of Wessex, the most
formidable of all. Through Godwin's influence, Edward took the throne
at the untimely death of Hardicanute in 1042. In 1045, he married
Godwin's only daughter, Edith.

Resulting from the connections made during Edward's
years in Normandy, he surrounded himself with his Norman favorites
and was unduly influenced by them. This Norman "affinity"
produced great displeasure among the Saxon nobles. The anti-Norman
faction was led by (who else?) Godwin of Wessex and his son, Harold
Godwinsson, took every available opportunity to undermine the kings
favorites. Edward sought to revenge himself on Godwin by insulting
his own wife and Godwin's daughter, Edith, and confining her to the
monastery of Wherwell. Disputes also arose over the issue of royal
patronage and Edward's inclination to reward his Norman friends.

A Norman, Robert Champart, who had been Bishop of
London, was made Archbishop of Canterbury by Edward in 1051, a
promotion that displeased Godwin immensely. The Godwins were banished
from the kingdom after staging an unsuccessful rebellion against the
king but returned, landing an invasionary force in the south of
England in 1052. They received great popular support, and in the face
of this, the king was forced to restore the Godwins to favor in 1053.

Edward's greatest achievement was the construction of a
new cathedral, where virtually all English monarchs from William the
Conqueror onward would be crowned. It was determined that the minster
should not be built in London, and so a place was found to the west
of the city (hence "Westminster"). The new church was
consecrated at Christmas, 1065, but Edward could not attend due to
illness.

On his deathbed, Edward named Harold as his successor,
instead of the legitimate heir, his grandson, Edgar the Ætheling.
The question of succession had been an issue for some years and
remained unsettled at Edward's death in January, 1066. It was neatly
resolved, however, by William the Conqueror, just nine months later.

There is some question as to what kind of person Edward
was. After his death, he was the object of a religious cult and was
canonized in 1161, but that could be viewed as a strictly political
move. Some say, probably correctly, that he was a weak, but violent
man and that his reputation for saintliness was overstated, possibly
a sham perpetrated by the monks of Westminster in the twelfth
century. Others seem to think that he was deeply religious man and a
patient and peaceable ruler.

HAROLD II (1066)

On
Edward's death, the King's Council (the Witenagemot) confirmed
Edward's brother-in-law Harold, Earl of Wessex, as King. With no
royal blood, and fearing rival claims from William Duke of Normandy
and the King of Norway, Harold had himself crowned in Westminster
Abbey on 6 January 1066, the day after Edward's death. During his
brief reign, Harold showed he was an outstanding commander.

In September, Harald Hardrada of Norway (aided by
Harold's alienated brother Tostig, Earl of Northumbria) invaded
England and was defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge
near York. Hardrada's army had invaded using over 300 ships; so many
were killed that only 25 ships were needed to transport the survivors
home.

Meanwhile, William, Duke of Normandy (who claimed that
Harold had acknowledged him in 1064 as Edward's successor) had landed
in Sussex. Harold rushed south and, on 14 October 1066, his army of
some 7,000 infantry was defeated on the field of Senlac near
Hastings. Harold was hit in the eye by an arrow and cut down by
Norman swords.

An abbey was later built, in 1070, to fulfil a vow made
by William I, and its high altar was placed on the spot where Harold
fell. The ruins of Battle Abbey still remain with a stone slab
marking where Harold died.

THE NORMANS

The Normans came to govern as a result of one of the
most famous battles in English history, the Battle of Hastings in
1066. From 1066 to 1154 four kings ruled. The Domesday Book, that
great source of English landholding, was published, the forests were
extended, the Exchequer was founded and a start was made on the Tower
of London. In religious affairs, the Gregorian reform movement
gathered pace and forced concessions, while the machinery of
government developed to support the country while Henry was fighting
abroad. Meanwhile, the social landscape was altered, as the Norman
aristocracy came to prominence. Many of the nobles struggled to keep
a hold on both Normandy and England, as divided rule meant the threat
of conflict.

This was the case when William the Conqueror died. His
eldest son, Robert, became Duke of Normandy, while the next youngest,
William, became king of England. Their younger brother Henry would
become king on William II's death. The uneasy divide continued until
Henry captured and imprisoned his elder brother.

The question of the succession continued to weigh
heavily over the remainder of the period. Henry's son died, and his
nominated heir Matilda was denied the throne by her cousin, Henry's
nephew, Stephen. There then followed a period of civil war. Matilda
married Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou, who took control of Normandy.
The duchy was therefore separated from England once again.

A compromise was eventually reached whereby the son of
Matilda and Geoffrey would be heir to the English crown, while
Stephen's son would inherit his baronial lands. All this meant that
in 1154 Henry II would ascend to the throne as the first undisputed
King in over 100 years - proof of the dynastic uncertainty of the
Norman period.

Born
around 1028, William was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert I of
Normandy, and Herleve (also known as Arlette), daughter of a tanner
in Falaise. Known as 'William the Bastard' to his contemporaries, his
illegitimacy shaped his career when he was young. On his father's
death in 1035, William was recognised by his family as the heir - an
exception to the general rule that illegitimacy barred succession.
His great uncle looked after the Duchy during William's minority, and
his overlord, King Henry I of France, knighted him at the age of 15.
From 1047 onwards, William successfully dealt with rebellion inside
Normandy involving his kinsmen and threats from neighbouring nobles,
including attempted invasions by his former ally King Henry I of
France in 1054 (the French forces were defeated at the Battle of
Mortemer) and 1057. William's military successes and reputation
helped him to negotiate his marriage to Mathilda, daughter of Count
Baldwin V of Flanders. At the time of his invasion of England,
William was a very experienced and ruthless military commander, ruler
and administrator who had unified Normandy and inspired fear and
respect outside his duchy. William's claim to the English throne was
based on his assertion that, in 1051, Edward the Confessor had
promised him the throne (he was a distant cousin) and that Harold II
- having sworn in 1064 to uphold William's right to succeed to that
throne - was therefore a usurper. Furthermore, William had the
support of Emperor Henry IV and papal approval. William took seven
months to prepare his invasion force, using some 600 transport ships
to carry around 7,000 men (including 2,000-3,000 cavalry) across the
Channel. On 28 September 1066, with a favourable wind, William landed
unopposed at Pevensey and, within a few days, raised fortifications
at Hastings. Having defeated an earlier invasion by the King of
Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York in late September,
Harold undertook a forced march south, covering 250 miles in some
nine days to meet the new threat, gathering inexperienced
reinforcements to replenish his exhausted veterans as he marched. At
the Battle of Senlac (near Hastings) on 14 October, Harold's weary
and under-strength army faced William's cavalry (part of the forces
brought across the Channel) supported by archers. Despite their
exhaustion, Harold's troops were equal in number (they included the
best infantry in Europe equipped with their terrible two-handled
battle axes) and they had the battlefield advantage of being based on
a ridge above the Norman positions. The first uphill assaults by the
Normans failed and a rumour spread that William had been killed;
William rode among the ranks raising his helmet to show he was still
alive. The battle was close-fought: a chronicler described the Norman
counter-attacks and the Saxon defence as 'one side attacking with all
mobility, the other withstanding as though rooted to the soil'. Three
of William's horses were killed under him. William skilfully
co-ordinated his archers and cavalry, both of which the English
forces lacked. During a Norman assault, Harold was killed - hit by an
arrow and then mowed down by the sword of a mounted knight. Two of
his brothers were also killed. The demoralised English forces fled.
(In 1070, as penance, William had an abbey built on the site of the
battle, with the high altar occupying the spot where Harold fell. The
ruins of Battle Abbey, and the town of Battle, which grew up around
it, remain.) William was crowned on Christmas Day 1066 in
Westminster Abbey. Three months later, he was confident enough to
return to Normandy leaving two joint regents (one of whom was his
half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was later to commission the
Bayeux Tapestry) behind to administer the kingdom. However, it took
William six years to consolidate his conquest, and even then he had
to face constant plotting and fighting on both sides of the Channel.
In 1068, Harold's sons raided the south-west coast of England (dealt
with by William's local commanders), and there were uprisings in the
Welsh Marches, Devon and Cornwall. William appointed earls who, in
Wales and in all parts of the kingdom, undertook to guard the
threatened frontiers and maintain internal security in return for
land. In 1069, the Danes, in alliance with Prince Edgar the
Aetheling (Ethelred's great-grandson) and other English nobles,
invaded the north and took York. Taking personal charge, and pausing
only to deal with the rising at Stafford, William drove the Danes
back to their ships on the Humber. In a harsh campaign lasting into
1070, William systematically devastated Mercia and Northumbria to
deprive the Danes of their supplies and prevent recovery of English
resistance. Churches and monasteries were burnt, and agricultural
land was laid to waste, creating a famine for the unarmed and mostly
peasant population which lasted at least nine years. Although the
Danes were bribed to leave the north, King Sweyn of Denmark and his
ships threatened the east coast (in alliance with various English,
including Hereward the Wake) until a treaty of peace was concluded in
June 1070. Further north, where the boundary with Scotland was
unclear, King Malcolm III was encroaching into England. Yet again,
William moved swiftly and moved land and sea forces north to invade
Scotland. The Treaty of Abernethy in 1072 marked a truce, which was
reinforced by Malcolm's eldest son being accepted as a hostage.
William consolidated his conquest by starting a castle-building
campaign in strategic areas. Originally these castles were wooden
towers on earthen 'mottes' (mounds) with a bailey (defensive area)
surrounded by earth ramparts, but many were later rebuilt in stone.
By the end of William's reign over 80 castles had been built
throughout his kingdom, as a permanent reminder of the new Norman
feudal order. William's wholesale confiscation of land from English
nobles and their heirs (many nobles had died at the battles of
Stamford Bridge and Senlac) enabled him to recruit and retain an
army, by demanding military duties in exchange for land tenancy
granted to Norman, French and Flemish allies. He created up to 180
'honours' (lands scattered through shires, with a castle as the
governing centre), and in return had some 5,000 knights at his
disposal to repress rebellions and pursue campaigns; the knights were
augmented by mercenaries and English infantry from the Anglo-Saxon
militia, raised from local levies. William also used the fyrd, the
royal army - a military arrangement which had survived the Conquest.
The King's tenants-in-chief in turn created knights under obligation
to them and for royal duties (this was called subinfeudation), with
the result that private armies centred around private castles were
created - these were to cause future problems of anarchy for
unfortunate or weak kings. By the end of William's reign, a small
group of the King's tenants had acquired about half of England's
landed wealth. Only two Englishmen still held large estates directly
from the King. A foreign aristocracy had been imposed as the new
governing class. The expenses of numerous campaigns, together with
an economic slump (caused by the shifts in landed wealth, and the
devastation of northern England for military and political reasons),
prompted William to order a full-scale investigation into the actual
and potential wealth of the kingdom to maximise tax revenues. The
Domesday survey was prompted by ignorance of the state of land
holding in England, as well as the result of the costs of defence
measures in England and renewed war in France. The scope, speed,
efficiency and completion of this survey was remarkable for its time
and resulted in the two-volume Domesday Book of 1086, which still
exists today. William needed to ensure the direct loyalty of his
feudal tenants. The 1086 Oath of Salisbury was a gathering of
William's 170 tenants-in-chief and other important landowners who
took an oath of fealty to William. William's reach extended
elsewhere into the Church and the legal system. French superseded the
vernacular (Anglo-Saxon). Personally devout, William used his bishops
to carry out administrative duties. Lanfranc, Archbishop of
Canterbury from 1070, was a first-class administrator who assisted in
government when William was absent in France, and who reorganised the
Church in England. Having established the primacy of his
archbishopric over that of York, and with William's approval,
Lanfranc excommunicated rebels, and set up Church or spiritual courts
to deal with ecclesiastical matters. Lanfranc also replaced English
bishops and abbots (some of whom had already been removed by the
Council of Winchester under papal authority) with Norman or French
clergy to reduce potential political resistance. In addition,
Canterbury and Durham Cathedrals were rebuilt and some of the
bishops' sees were moved to urban centres. At his coronation,
William promised to uphold existing laws and customs. The Anglo-Saxon
shire courts and 'hundred' courts (which administered defence and
tax, as well as justice matters) remained intact, as did regional
variations and private Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. To strengthen royal
justice, William relied on sheriffs (previously smaller landowners,
but replaced by influential nobles) to supervise the administration
of justice in existing county courts, and sent members of his own
court to conduct important trials. However, the introduction of
Church courts, the mix of Norman/Roman law and the differing customs
led to a continuing complex legal framework. More severe forest laws
reinforced William's conversion of the New Forest into a vast Royal
deer reserve. These laws caused great resentment, and to English
chroniclers the New Forest became a symbol of William's greed.
Nevertheless the King maintained peace and order. The Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle in 1087 declared 'he was a very stern and violent man, so
no one dared do anything contrary to his will ... Amongst other
things the good security he made in this country is not to be
forgotten.' William spent the last months of his reign in Normandy,
fighting a counter-offensive in the French Vexin territory against
King Philip's annexation of outlying Normandy territory. Before his
death on 9 September 1087, William divided his 'Anglo-Norman' state
between his sons. (The scene was set for centuries of expensive
commitments by successive English monarchs to defend their inherited
territories in France.) William bequeathed Normandy as he had
promised to his eldest son Robert, despite their bitter differences
(Robert had sided with his father's enemies in Normandy, and even
wounded and defeated his father in a battle there in 1079). His son,
William Rufus, was to succeed William as King of England, and the
third remaining son, Henry, was left 5,000 pounds in silver. William
was buried in his abbey foundation of St Stephen at Caen. Desecrated
by Huguenots (1562) and Revolutionaries (1793), the burial place of
the first Norman king of England is marked by a simple stone slab.

WILLIAM II (KNOWN AS WILLIAM RUFUS) (1087-1100)

Strong, outspoken and ruddy (hence his nickname
'Rufus'), William II (reigned 1087-1100) extended his father's
policies, taking royal power to the far north of England. Ruthless in
his relations with his brother Robert, William extended his grip on
the duchy of Normandy under an agreement between the brothers in
1091. (Robert went on crusade in 1096.)

William's relations with the Church were not easy; he
took over Archbishop Lanfranc's revenues after the latter's death in
1089, kept other bishoprics vacant to make use of their revenues, and
had numerous arguments with Lanfranc's popular successor, Anselm.
William died on 2 August 1100, after being shot by an arrow whilst
hunting in the New Forest.

HENRY I (1100-1135)

William's
younger brother Henry succeeded to the throne. He was crowned three
days after his brother's death, against the possibility that his
eldest brother Robert might claim the English throne. After the
decisive battle of Tinchebrai in 1106 in France, Henry completed his
conquest of Normandy from Robert, who then (unusually even for that
time) spent the last 28 years of his life as his brother's prisoner.
An energetic, decisive and occasionally cruel ruler, Henry
centralised the administration of England and Normandy in the royal
court, using 'viceroys' in Normandy and a group of advisers in
England to act on his behalf when he was absent across the Channel.
Henry successfully sought to increase royal revenues, as shown by the
official records of his exchequer (the Pipe Roll of 1130, the first
exchequer account to survive). He established peaceful relations with
Scotland, through his marriage to Mathilda of Scotland. Henry's name
'Beauclerc' denoted his good education (as the youngest son, his
parents possibly expected that he would become a bishop); Henry was
probably the first Norman king to be fluent in English. In 1120, his
legitimate sons William and Richard drowned in the White Ship which
sank in the English Channel. This posed a succession problem, as
Henry never allowed any of his illegitimate children to expect
succession to either England or Normandy. Henry had a legitimate
daughter Matilda (widow of Emperor Henry V, subsequently married to
the Count of Anjou). However, it was his nephew Stephen (reigned
1135-54), son of William the Conqueror's daughter Adela, who
succeeded Henry after his death, allegedly caused by eating too many
lampreys (fish) in 1135, as the barons mostly opposed the idea of a
female ruler.

STEPHEN AND MATILDA (1135-1154)

Though
charming, attractive and (when required) a brave warrior, Stephen
(reigned 1135-54) lacked ruthlessness and failed to inspire loyalty.
He could neither control his friends nor subdue his enemies, despite
the support of his brother Henry of Blois (Bishop of Winchester) and
his able wife Matilda of Boulogne. Henry I's daughter Matilda invaded
England in 1139 to claim the throne, and the country was plunged into
civil war. Although anarchy never spread over the whole country,
local feuds were pursued under the cover of the civil war; the bond
between the King and the nobles broke down, and senior figures
(including Stephen's brother Henry) freely changed allegiances as it
suited them. In 1141, Stephen was captured at Lincoln and his defeat
seemed certain. However, Matilda's arrogant behaviour antagonised
even her own supporters (Angevins), and Stephen was released in
exchange for her captured ally and illegitimate half-brother, Earl
Robert of Gloucester. After the latter's death in 1147, Matilda
retired to Normandy (which her husband, the Count of Anjou had
conquered) in 1148. Stephen's throne was still disputed. Matilda's
eldest son, Henry, who had been given Normandy by his father in 1150
and who had married the heiress Eleanor Duchess of Aquitaine, invaded
England in 1149 and again in 1153. Stephen fought stubbornly against
Henry; Stephen even attempted to ensure his son Eustace's succession
by having him crowned in Stephen's own lifetime. The Church refused
(having quarrelled with the king some years previously); Eustace's
death later in 1153 helped lead to a negotiated peace (the treaty of
Wallingford) under which Henry would inherit the throne after
Stephen's death.

THE ANGEVINS

Henry II, the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Henry I's
daughter Matilda, was the first in a long line of 14 Plantagenet
kings, stretching from Henry II's accession through to Richard III's
death in 1485. Within that line, however, four distinct Royal Houses
can be identified: Angevin, Plantagenet, Lancaster and York.

The first Angevin King, Henry II, began the period as
arguably the most powerful monarch in Europe, with lands stretching
from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees. In addition, Ireland was
added to his inheritance, a mission entrusted to him by Pope Adrian
IV (the only English Pope). A new administrative zeal was evident at
the beginning of the period and an efficient system of government was
formulated. The justice system developed. However there were quarrels
with the Church, which became more powerful following the murder of
Thomas à Becket.

As with many of his predecessors, Henry II spent much of
his time away from England fighting abroad. This was taken to an
extreme by his son Richard, who spent only 10 months of a ten-year
reign in the country due to his involvement in the crusades. The last
of the Angevin kings was John, whom history has judged harshly. By
1205, six years into his reign, only a fragment of the vast Angevin
empire acquired by Henry II remained. John quarrelled with the Pope
over the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, eventually
surrendering. He was also forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215,
which restated the rights of the church, the barons and all in the
land. John died in ignominy, having broken the contract, leading the
nobles to summon aid from France and creating a precarious
position for his heir, Henry III.

HENRY
II CURTMANTLE (1154-1189)

Henry II ruled over an empire which stretched from the
Scottish border to the Pyrenees. One of the strongest, most energetic
and imaginative rulers, Henry was the inheritor of three dynasties
who had acquired Aquitaine by marriage; his charters listed them:
'King of the English, Duke of the Normans and Aquitanians and Count
of the Angevins'. The King spent only 13 years of his reign in
England; the other 21 years were spent on the continent in his
territories in what is now France. Henry's rapid movements in
carrying out his dynastic responsibilities astonished the French
king, who noted 'now in England, now in Normandy, he must fly rather
than travel by horse or ship'. By 1158, Henry had restored to the
Crown some of the lands and royal power lost by Stephen; Malcom IV of
Scotland was compelled to return the northern counties. Locally
chosen sheriffs were changed into royally appointed agents charged
with enforcing the law and collecting taxes in the counties.
Personally interested in government and law, Henry made use of juries
and re-introduced the sending of justices (judges) on regular tours
of the country to try cases for the Crown. His legal reforms have led
him to be seen as the founder of English Common Law. Henry's
disagreements with the Archbishop of Canterbury (the king's former
chief adviser), Thomas à Becket, over Church-State relations ended
in Becket's murder in 1170 and a papal interdict on England. Family
disputes over territorial ambitions almost wrecked the king's
achievements. Henry died in France in 1189, at war with his son
Richard, who had joined forces with King Philip of France to attack
Normandy.

RICHARD I COEUR DE LION ('THE LIONHEART')
(1189-1199)

Henry's elder son, Richard I (reigned 1189-99),
fulfilled his main ambition by going on crusade in 1190, leaving the
ruling of England to others. After his victories over Saladin at the
siege of Acre and the battles of Arsuf and Jaffa, concluded by the
treaty of Jaffa (1192), Richard was returning from the Holy Land when
he was captured in Austria. In early 1193, Richard was transferred to
Emperor Henry VI's custody. In Richard's absence, King Philip of
France failed to obtain Richard's French possessions through invasion
or negotiation. In England, Richard's brother John occupied Windsor
Castle and prepared an invasion of England by Flemish mercenaries,
accompanied by armed uprisings. Their mother, Queen Eleanor, took
firm action against John by strengthening garrisons and again
exacting oaths of allegiance to the king. John's subversive
activities were ended by the payment of a crushing ransom of 150,000
marks of silver to the emperor, for Richard's release in 1194. Warned
by Philip's famous message 'look to yourself, the devil is loosed',
John fled to the French court. On his return to England, Richard was
recrowned at Winchester in 1194. Five years later he died in France
during a minor siege against a rebellious baron. By the time of his
death, Richard had recovered all his lands. His success was
short-lived. In 1199 his brother John became king and Philip
successfully invaded Normandy. By 1203, John had retreated to
England, losing his French lands of Normandy and Anjou by 1205.

JOHN (1199-1216)

John
was an able administrator interested in law and government but he
neither trusted others nor was trusted by them. Heavy taxation,
disputes with the Church (John was excommunicated by the Pope in
1209) and unsuccessful attempts to recover his French possessions
made him unpopular. Many of his barons rebelled and in June 1215 they
forced the King to sign a peace treaty accepting their reforms. This
treaty, later known as Magna Carta, limited royal powers, defined
feudal obligations between the King and the barons, and guaranteed a
number of rights. The most influential clauses concerned the freedom
of the Church; the redress of grievances of owners and tenants of
land; the need to consult the Great Council of the Realm so as to
prevent unjust taxation; mercantile and trading relationships;
regulation of the machinery of justice so that justice be denied to
no one; and the requirement to control the behaviour of royal
officials. The most important clauses established the basis of habeas
corpus ('you have the body'), i.e. that no one shall be imprisoned
except by due process of law, and that 'to no one will we sell, to no
one will we refuse or delay right or justice'. The Charter also
established a council of barons who were to ensure that the Sovereign
observed the Charter, with the right to wage war on him if he did
not. Magna Carta was the first formal document insisting that the
Sovereign was as much under the rule of law as his people, and that
the rights of individuals were to be upheld even against the wishes
of the sovereign. As a source of fundamental constitutional
principles, Magna Carta came to be seen as an important definition of
aspects of English law, and in later centuries as the basis of the
liberties of the English people. As a peace treaty Magna Carta was
a failure and the rebels invited Louis of France to become their
king. When John died in 1216 England was in the grip of civil war.

THE PLANTAGENETS

The Plantagenet period was
dominated by three major conflicts at home and abroad. Edward I
attempted to create a British empire dominated by England, conquering
Wales and pronouncing his eldest son Prince of Wales, and then
attacking Scotland. Scotland was to remain elusive and retain its
independence until late in the reign of the Stuart kings. In
the reign of Edward III the Hundred Years War began, a
struggle between England and France. At the end of
the Plantagenet period, the reign of Richard II saw the
beginning of the long period of civil feuding known as the War
of the Roses. For the next century, the crown would be disputed
by two conflicting family strands, the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

The period also saw the development
of new social institutions and a distinctive English culture.
Parliament emerged and grew. The judicial reforms begun in the reign
of Henry II were continued and completed by Edward I. Culture
began to flourish. Three Plantagenet kings were patrons of
Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry. During the
early part of the period, the architectural style of the Normans
gave way to the Gothic, in which style Salisbury Cathedral was
built. Westminster Abbey was rebuilt and the majority of English
cathedrals remodelled. Franciscan and Dominican orders began to
be established in England, while the universities of Oxford and
Cambridge had their origins in this period.

Amidst the order of learning and art,
however, were disturbing new phenomena. The outbreak of
Bubonic plague or the 'Black Death' served to undermine military
campaigns and cause huge social turbulence, killing half the
country's population. The price rises and labour shortage
which resulted led to social unrest, culminating in the
Peasants' Revolt in 1381.

of
Wales, of Kent (son of Clarence
de Burgh Lancaster of Lancaster dau.
of Sir Roet

The
Black Prince of EDWARD I)
of Guienne

RICHARD
II Edmund,
= Philippa Mary = HENRY
IV John
Beaufort,

(1377–1399)
Earl of March
Bohun (1399–1413)

Roger,
Earl = Eleanor HENRY
V (1)
= Katherine, dau. John Beaufort,

of
March Holland (1413–1422) of
CHARLES VI, Duke of Somerset

King
of France

Richard,
Earl = Anne
HENRY
VI Margaret
Beaufort = Edmund Tudor,

of
Cambridge Mortimer
(1422–1461,
Earl of Richmond

1470–1471)

Richard,
Duke = Cecily
Elizabeth of York, = HENRY
VII

of
York Neville
dau. of EDWARD
IV
(1485–1509)

EDWARD
IV =
Elizabeth, dau. RICHARD
III

(1461–1470,
of Sir Richard
(1483–1485)

1471–1483)
Woodville

EDWARD
V
Elizabeth
= HENRY
VII

(1483)
(1485–1509)

HENRY III (1216-1272)

Henry
III, King John's son, was only nine when he became King. By 1227,
when he assumed power from his regent, order had been restored, based
on his acceptance of Magna Carta. However, the King's failed
campaigns in France (1230 and 1242), his choice of friends and
advisers, together with the cost of his scheme to make one of his
younger sons King of Sicily and help the Pope against the Holy Roman
Emperor, led to further disputes with the barons and united
opposition in Church and State. Although Henry was extravagant and
his tax demands were resented, the King's accounts show a list of
many charitable donations and payments for building works (including
the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey which began in 1245). The
Provisions of Oxford (1258) and the Provisions of Westminster (1259)
were attempts by the nobles to define common law in the spirit of
Magna Carta, control appointments and set up an aristocratic council.
Henry tried to defeat them by obtaining papal absolution from his
oaths, and enlisting King Louis XI's help. Henry renounced the
Provisions in 1262 and war broke out. The barons, under their leader,
Simon de Montfort, were initially successful and even captured Henry.
However, Henry escaped, joined forces with the lords of the Marches
(on the Welsh border), and Henry finally defeated and killed de
Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Royal authority was
restored by the Statute of Marlborough (1267), in which the King also
promised to uphold Magna Carta and some of the Provisions of
Westminster.

EDWARD
I (1272-1307)

Born in June 1239 at Westminster,
Edward was named by his father Henry III after the last Anglo Saxon
king (and his father's favourite saint), Edward the Confessor.
Edward's parents were renowned for their patronage of the arts (his
mother, Eleanor of Provence, encouraged Henry III to spend money on
the arts, which included the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey and a
still-extant magnificent shrine to house the body of Edward the
Confessor), and Edward received a disciplined education - reading and
writing in Latin and French, with training in the arts, sciences and
music. In 1254, Edward travelled to Spain for an arranged marriage
at the age of 15 to 9-year-old Eleanor of Castile. Just before
Edward's marriage, Henry III gave him the duchy of Gascony, one of
the few remnants of the once vast French possessions of the English
Angevin kings. Gascony was part of a package which included parts of
Ireland, the Channel Islands and the King's lands in Wales to provide
an income for Edward. Edward then spent a year in Gascony, studying
its administration. Edward spent his young adulthood learning harsh
lessons from Henry III's failures as a king, culminating in a civil
war in which he fought to defend his father. Henry's ill-judged and
expensive intervention in Sicilian affairs (lured by the Pope's offer
of the Sicilian crown to Henry's younger son) failed, and aroused the
anger of powerful barons including Henry's brother-in-law Simon de
Montfort. Bankrupt and threatened with excommunication, Henry was
forced to agree to the Provisions of Oxford in 1258, under which his
debts were paid in exchange for substantial reforms; a Great Council
of 24, partly nominated by the barons, assumed the functions of the
King's Council. Henry repudiated the Provisions in 1261 and sought
the help of the French king Louis IX (later known as St Louis for his
piety and other qualities). This was the only time Edward was tempted
to side with his charismatic and politically ruthless godfather Simon
de Montfort - he supported holding a Parliament in his father's
absence. However, by the time Louis IX decided to side with Henry in
the dispute and civil war broke out in England in 1263, Edward had
returned to his father's side and became de Montfort's greatest
enemy. After winning the battle of Lewes in 1264 (after which Edward
became a hostage to ensure his father abided by the terms of the
peace), de Montfort summoned the Great Parliament in 1265 - this was
the first time cities and burghs sent representatives to the
parliament. (Historians differ as to whether de Montfort was an
enlightened liberal reformer or an unscrupulous opportunist using any
means to advance himself.) In May 1265, Edward escaped from tight
supervision whilst hunting. On 4 August, Edward and his allies
outmanoeuvred de Montfort in a savage battle at Evesham; de Montfort
predicted his own defeat and death 'let us commend our souls to God,
because our bodies are theirs ... they are approaching wisely, they
learned this from me.' With the ending of the civil war, Edward
worked hard at social and political reconciliation between his father
and the rebels, and by 1267 the realm had been pacified. In April
1270 Parliament agreed an unprecedented levy of one-twentieth of
every citizen's goods and possessions to finance Edward's Crusade to
the Holy Lands. Edward left England in August 1270 to join the highly
respected French king Louis IX on Crusade. At a time when popes were
using the crusading ideal to further their own political ends in
Italy and elsewhere, Edward and King Louis were the last crusaders in
the medieval tradition of aiming to recover the Holy Lands. Louis
died of the plague in Tunis before Edward's arrival, and the French
forces were bought off from pursuing their campaign. Edward decided
to continue regardless: 'by the blood of God, though all my fellow
soldiers and countrymen desert me, I will enter Acre ... and I will
keep my word and my oath to the death'. Edward arrived in Acre in
May 1271 with 1,000 knights; his crusade was to prove an anticlimax.
Edward's small force limited him to the relief of Acre and a handful
of raids, and divisions amongst the international force of Christian
Crusaders led to Edward's compromise truce with the Baibars. In June
1272, Edward survived a murder attempt by an Assassin (an order of
Shi'ite Muslims) and left for Sicily later in the year. He was never
to return on crusade. Meanwhile, Henry III died on 16 November 1272.
Edward succeeded to the throne without opposition - given his track
record in military ability and his proven determination to give peace
to the country, enhanced by his magnified exploits on crusade. In
Edward's absence, a proclamation in his name delcared that he had
succeeded by hereditary right and the barons swore allegeiance to
him. Edward finally arrived in London in August 1274 and was crowned
at Westminster Abbey. Aged 35, he was a veteran warrior ('the best
lance in all the world', according to contemporaries), a leader with
energy and vision, and with a formidable temper. Edward was
determined to enforce English kings' claims to primacy in the British
Isles. The first part of his reign was dominated by Wales. At that
time, Wales consisted of a number of disunited small Welsh
princedoms; the South Welsh princes were in uneasy alliance with the
Marcher lords (feudal earldoms and baronies set up by the Norman
kings to protect the English border against Welsh raids) against the
Northern Welsh based in the rocky wilds of Gwynedd, under the strong
leadership of Llywelyn ap Gruffyd, Prince of Gwynedd. In 1247, under
the Treaty of Woodstock, Llywelyn had agreed that he held North Wales
in fee to the English king. By 1272, Llywelyn had taken advantage of
the English civil wars to consolidate his position, and the Peace of
Montgomery (1267) had confirmed his title as Prince of Wales and
recognised his conquests. However, Llywelyn maintained that the
rights of his principality were 'entirely separate from the rights'
of England; he did not attend Edward's coronation and refused to do
homage. Finally, in 1277 Edward decided to fight Llywelyn 'as a rebel
and disturber of the peace', and quickly defeated him. War broke out
again in 1282 when Llywelyn joined his brother David in rebellion.
Edward's determination, military experience and skilful use of ships
brought from England for deployment along the North Welsh coast,
drove Llywelyn back into the mountains of North Wales. The death of
Llywelyn in a chance battle in 1282 and the subsequent execution of
his brother David effectively ended attempts at Welsh independence.
Under the Statute of Wales of 1284, Wales was brought into the
English legal framework and the shire system was extended. In the
same year, a son was born in Wales to Edward and Queen Eleanor (also
named Edward, this future king was proclaimed the first English
Prince of Wales in 1301). The Welsh campaign had produced one of the
largest armies ever assembled by an English king - some 15,000
infantry (including 9,000 Welsh and a Gascon contingent); the army
was a formidable combination of heavy Anglo-Norman cavalry and Welsh
archers, whose longbow skills laid the foundations of later military
victories in France such as that at Agincourt. As symbols of his
military strength and political authority, Edward spent some £80,000
on a network of castles and lesser strongholds in North Wales,
employing a work-force of up to 3,500 men drawn from all over
England. (Some castles, such as Conway and Caernarvon, remain in
their ruined layouts today, as examples of fortresses integrated with
fortified towns.) Edward's campaign in Wales was based on his
determination to ensure peace and extend royal authority, and it had
broad support in England. Edward saw the need to widen support among
lesser landowners and the merchants and traders of the towns. The
campaigns in Wales, France and Scotland left Edward deeply in debt,
and the taxation required to meet those debts meant enrolling
national support for his policies. To raise money, Edward
summoned Parliament - up to 1286 he summoned Parliaments twice a
year. (The word 'Parliament' came from the 'parley' or talks which
the King had with larger groups of advisers.) In 1295, when money was
needed to wage war against Philip of France (who had confiscated the
duchy of Gascony), Edward summoned the most comprehensive assembly
ever summoned in England. This became known as the Model Parliament,
for it represented various estates: barons, clergy, and knights and
townspeople. By the end of Edward's reign, Parliament usually
contained representatives of all these estates. Edward used his
royal authority to establish the rights of the Crown at the expense
of traditional feudal privileges, to promote the uniform
administration of justice, to raise income to meet the costs of war
and government, and to codify the legal system. In doing so, his
methods emphasised the role of Parliament and the common law. With
the able help of his Chancellor, Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and
Wells, Edward introduced much new legislation. He began by
commissioning a thorough survey of local government (with the results
entered into documents known as the Hundred Rolls), which not only
defined royal rights and possessions but also revealed administrative
abuses. The First Statute of Westminster (1275) codified 51 existing
laws - many originating from Magna Carta - covering areas ranging
from extortion by royal officers, lawyers and bailiffs, methods of
procedure in civil and criminal cases to freedom of elections.
Edward's first Parliament also enacted legislation on wool, England's
most important export at the time. At the request of the merchants,
Edward was given a customs grant on wool and hides which amounted to
nearly £10,000 a year. Edward also obtained income from the licence
fees imposed by the Statute of Mortmain (1279), under which gifts of
land to the Church (often made to evade death duties) had to have a
royal licence. The Statutes of Gloucester (1278) and Quo Warranto
(1290) attempted to define and regulate feudal jurisdictions, which
were an obstacle to royal authority and to a uniform system of
justice for all; the Statute of Winchester (1285) codified the
policing system for preserving public order. Other statutes had a
long-term effect on land law and on the feudal framework in England.
The Second Statute of Westminster (1285) restricted the alienation of
land and kept entailed estates within families: tenants were only
tenants for life and not able to sell the property to others. The
Third Statute of Westminster or Quia Emptores (1290) stopped
subinfeudation (in which tenants of land belonging to the King or to
barons subcontracted their properties and related feudal services).
Edward's assertion that the King of Scotland owed feudal allegiance
to him, and the embittered Anglo-Scottish relations leading to war
which followed, were to overshadow the rest of Edward's reign in what
was to become known as the 'Great Cause'. Under a treaty of 1174,
William the Lion of Scotland had become the vassal to Henry II, but
in 1189 Richard I had absolved William from his allegiance.
Intermarriage between the English and Scottish royal houses promoted
peace between the two countries until the premature death of
Alexander III in 1286. In 1290, his granddaughter and heiress,
Margaret the 'Maid of Norway' (daughter of the King of Norway, she
was pledged to be married to Edward's then only surviving son, Edward
of Caernarvon), also died. For Edward, this dynastic blow was made
worse by the death in the same year of his much-loved wife Eleanor
(her body was ceremonially carried from Lincoln to Westminster for
burial, and a memorial cross erected at every one of the twelve
resting places, including what became known as Charing Cross in
London). In the absence of an obvious heir to the Scottish throne,
the disunited Scottish magnates invited Edward to determine the
dispute. In order to gain acceptance of his authority in reaching a
verdict, Edward sought and obtained recognition from the rival
claimants that he had the 'sovereign lordship of Scotland and the
right to determine our several pretensions'. In November 1292, Edward
and his 104 assessors gave the whole kingdom to John Balliol or
Baliol as the claimant closest to the royal line; Balliol duly swore
loyalty to Edward and was crowned at Scone. John Balliol's position
proved difficult. Edward insisted that Scotland was not independent
and he, as sovereign lord, had the right to hear in England appeals
against Balliol's judgements in Scotland. In 1294, Balliol lost
authority amongst Scottish magnates by going to Westminster after
receiving a summons from Edward; the magnates decided to seek allies
in France and concluded the 'Auld Alliance' with France (then at war
with England over the duchy of Gascony) - an alliance which was to
influence Scottish history for the next 300 years. In March 1296,
having failed to negotiate a settlement, the English led by Edward
sacked the city of Berwick near the River Tweed. Balliol formally
renounced his homage to Edward in April 1296, speaking of 'grievous
and intolerable injuries ... for instance by summoning us outside our
realm ... as your own whim dictated ... and so ... we renounce the
fealty and homage which we have done to you'. Pausing to design and
start the rebuilding of Berwick as the financial capital of the
country, Edward's forces overran remaining Scottish resistance. Scots
leaders were taken hostage, and Edinburgh Castle, amongst others, was
seized. Balliol surrendered his realm and spent the rest of his life
in exile in England and Normandy. Having humiliated Balliol,
Edward's insensitive policies in Scotland continued: he appointed a
trio of Englishmen to run the country. Edward had the Stone of Scone
- also known as the Stone of Destiny - on which Scottish sovereigns
had been crowned removed to London and subsequently placed in the
Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey (where it remained until it was
returned to Scotland in 1996). Edward never built stone castles on
strategic sites in Scotland, as he had done so successfully in Wales
- possibly because he did not have the funds for another ambitious
castle-building programme. By 1297, Edward was facing the biggest
crisis in his reign, and his commitments outweighed his resources.
Chronic debts were being incurred by wars against France, in
Flanders, Gascony and Wales as well as Scotland; the clergy were
refusing to pay their share of the costs, with the Archbishop of
Canterbury threatening excommunication; Parliament was reluctant to
contribute to Edward's expensive and unsuccessful military policies;
the Earls of Hereford and Norfolk refused to serve in Gascony, and
the barons presented a formal statement of their grievances. In the
end, Edward was forced to reconfirm the Charters (including Magna
Carta) to obtain the money he required; the Archbishop was eventually
suspended in 1306 by the new Gascon Pope Clement V; a truce was
declared with France in 1297, followed by a peace treaty in 1303
under which the French king restored the duchy of Gascony to Edward.
In Scotland, Edward pursued a series of campaigns from 1298 onwards.
William Wallace had risen in Balliol's name and recovered most of
Scotland, before being defeated by Edward at the battle of Falkirk in
1298. (Wallace escaped, only to be captured in 1305, allegedly by the
treachery of a fellow Scot and taken to London, where he was
executed.) In 1304, Edward summoned a full Parliament (which elected
Scottish representatives also attended), in which arrangements for
the settlement of Scotland were made. The new government in Scotland
featured a Council, which included Robert the Bruce. Bruce
unexpectedly rebelled in 1306 by killing a fellow counsellor and was
crowned king of Scotland at Scone. Despite his failing health, Edward
was carried north to pursue another campaign, but he died en route at
Burgh on Sands on 7 July 1307 aged 68. According to chroniclers,
Edward requested that his bones should be carried on Scottish
campaigns and that his heart be taken to the Holy Land. However,
Edward was buried at Westminster Abbey in a plain black marble tomb,
which in later years was painted with the words Scottorum malleus
(Hammer of the Scots) and Pactum serva (Keep troth). Throughout the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Exchequer paid to keep
candles burning 'round the body of the Lord Edward, formerly King of
England, of famous memory'.

EDWARD II (1307-1327)

Edward
II had few of the qualities that made a successful medieval king.
Edward surrounded himself with favourites (the best known being a
Gascon, Piers Gaveston), and the barons, feeling excluded from power,
rebelled. Throughout his reign, different baronial groups struggled
to gain power and control the King. The nobles' ordinances of 1311,
which attempted to limit royal control of finance and appointments,
were counteracted by Edward. Large debts (many inherited) and the
Scots' victory at Bannockburn by Robert the Bruce in 1314 made Edward
more unpopular. Edward's victory in a civil war (1321-2) and such
measures as the 1326 ordinance (a protectionist measure which set up
compulsory markets or staples in 14 English, Welsh and Irish towns
for the wool trade) did not lead to any compromise between the King
and the nobles. Finally, in 1326, Edward's wife, Isabella of France,
led an invasion against her husband. In 1327 Edward was made to
renounce the throne in favour of his son Edward (the first time that
an anointed king of England had been dethroned since Ethelred in
1013). Edward II was later murdered at Berkeley Castle.

EDWARD III (1327-77)

Edward III was 14 when he was crowned King and assumed
government in his own right in 1330. In 1337, Edward created the
Duchy of Cornwall to provide the heir to the throne with an income
independent of the sovereign or the state. An able soldier, and an
inspiring leader, Edward founded the Order of the Garter in 1348. At
the beginning of the Hundred Years War in 1337, actual campaigning
started when the King invaded France in 1339 and laid claim to the
throne of France. Following a sea victory at Sluys in 1340, Edward
overran Brittany in 1342 and in 1346 he landed in Normandy, defeating
the French King, Philip IV, at the Battle of Crécy and his son
Edward (the Black Prince) repeated his success at Poitiers (1356). By
1360 Edward controlled over a quarter of France. His successes
consolidated the support of the nobles, lessened criticism of the
taxes, and improved relations with Parliament. However, under the
1375 Treaty of Bruges the French King, Charles V, reversed most of
the English conquests; Calais and a coastal strip near Bordeaux were
Edward's only lasting gain. Failure abroad provoked criticism at
home. The Black Death plague outbreaks of 1348-9, 1361-2 and 1369
inflicted severe social dislocation (the King lost a daughter to the
plague) and caused deflation; severe laws were introduced to attempt
to fix wages and prices. In 1376, the 'Good Parliament' (which saw
the election of the first Speaker to represent the Commons) attacked
the high taxes and criticised the King's advisers. The ageing King
withdrew to Windsor for the rest of his reign, eventually dying at
Sheen Palace, Surrey.

RICHARD II (1377-99)

Edward
III's son, the Black Prince, died in 1376. The King's grandson,
Richard II, succeeded to the throne aged 10, on Edward's death. In
1381 the Peasants' Revolt broke out and Richard, aged 14, bravely
rode out to meet the rebels at Smithfield, London. Wat Tyler, the
principal leader of the peasants, was killed and the uprisings in the
rest of the country were crushed over the next few weeks (Richard was
later forced by his Council's advice to rescind the pardons he had
given). Highly cultured, Richard was one of the greatest royal
patrons of the arts; patron of Chaucer, it was Richard who ordered
the technically innovative transformation of the Norman Westminster
Hall to what it is today. (Built between 1097 and 1099 by William II,
the Hall was the ceremonial and administrative centre of the kingdom;
it also housed the Courts of Justice until 1882.) Richard's
authoritarian approach upset vested interests, and his increasing
dependence on favourites provoked resentment. In 1388 the 'Merciless
Parliament' led by a group of lords hostile to Richard (headed by the
King's uncle, Gloucester) sentenced many of the King's favourites to
death and forced Richard to renew his coronation oath. The death of
his first queen, Anne of Bohemia, in 1394 further isolated Richard,
and his subsequent arbitrary behaviour alienated people further.
Richard took his revenge in 1397, arresting or banishing many of his
opponents; his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, was also subsequently
banished. On the death of Henry's father, John of Gaunt (a younger
son of Edward III), Richard confiscated the vast properties of his
Duchy of Lancaster (which amounted to a state within a state) and
divided them among his supporters. Richard pursued policies of peace
with France (his second wife was Isabella of Valois); Richard still
called himself king of France and refused to give up Calais, but his
reign was concurrent with a 28 year truce in the Hundred Years War.
His expeditions to Ireland failed to reconcile the Anglo-Irish lords
with the Gaels. In 1399, whilst Richard was in Ireland, Henry of
Bolingbroke returned to claim his father's inheritance. Supported by
some of the leading baronial families (including Richard's former
Archbishop of Canterbury), Henry captured and deposed Richard.
Bolingbroke was crowned King as Henry IV. Risings in support of
Richard led to his murder in Pontefract Castle; Henry V subsequently
had his body buried in Westminster Abbey.

THE LANCASTRIANS

The accession of Henry IV sowed the seeds for a period
of unrest which ultimately broke out in civil war. Fraught by
rebellion and instability after his usurpation of Richard II, Henry
IV found it difficult to enforce his rule. His son, Henry V, fared
better, defeating France in the famous Battle of Agincourt (1415) and
staking a powerful claim to the French throne. Success was
short-lived with his early death.

By the reign of the relatively weak Henry VI, civil war
broke out between rival claimants to the throne, dating back to the
sons of Edward III. The Lancastrian dynasty descended from John of
Gaunt, third son of Edward III, whose son Henry deposed the unpopular
Richard II. Yorkist claimants such as the Duke of York asserted
their legitimate claim to the throne through Edward III's second
surviving son, but through a female line. The Wars of the Roses
therefore tested whether the succession should keep to the male line
or could pass through females.

Captured and briefly restored, Henry VI was captured and
put to death, and the Yorkist faction led by Edward IV gained the
throne.

HENRY IV (1399-1413)

Henry
IV was born at Bolingbroke in 1367 to John of Gaunt and Blanche of
Lancaster. He married Mary Bohun in 1380, who bore him seven children
before her death in 1394. In 1402, Henry remarried, taking as his
bride Joan of Navarre. Henry
had an on-again, off-again relationship with his cousin, Richard II.
He was one of the Lords Appellant, who, in 1388, persecuted many of
Richard's advisor-favorites, but his excellence as a soldier gained
the king's favor - Henry was created Duke of Hereford in 1397. In
1398, however, the increasingly suspicious Richard banished him for
ten years. John of Gaunt's death in 1399 prompted Richard to
confiscate the vast Lancastrian estates; Henry invaded England while
Richard was on campaign in Ireland, usurping the throne from the
king. The very nature of Henry's usurpation dictated the
circumstances of his reign - incessant rebellion became the order of
the day. Richard's supporters immediately revolted upon his
deposition in 1400. In Wales, Owen Glendower led a national uprising
that lasted until 1408; the Scots waged continual warfare throughout
the reign; the powerful families of Percy and Mortimer (the latter
possessing a stronger claim to the throne than Henry) revolted from
1403 to 1408; and Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, proclaimed his
opposition to the Lancastrian claim in 1405. Two political blunders
in the latter years of his reign diminished Henry's support. His
marriage to Joan of Navarre (of whom it was rumored practiced
necromancy) was highly unpopular - she was, in fact, convicted of
witchcraft in 1419. Scrope and Thomas Mawbray were executed in 1405
after conspiring against Henry; the Archbishop's execution alarmed
the English people, adding to his unpopularity. He developed a nasty
skin disorder and epilepsy, persuading many that God was punishing
the king for executing an archbishop. Crushing the myriad of
rebellions was costly, which involved calling Parliament to fund such
activities. The House of Commons used the opportunity to expand its
powers in 1401, securing recognition of freedom of debate and freedom
from arrest for dissenting opinions. Lollardy, the Protestant
movement founded by John Wycliffe during the reign of Edward III,
gained momentum and frightened both secular and clerical landowners,
inspiring the first anti-heresy statute, De
Heritico Comburendo,
to become law in 1401. Henry, ailing from leprosy and epilepsy,
watched as Prince Henry controlled the government for the last two
years of his reign. In 1413, Henry died in the Jerusalem Chamber of
Westminster Abbey. Rafael Holinshed explained his unpopularity in
Chronicles of England: "... by punishing such as moved with
disdain to see him usurp the crown, did at sundry times rebel against
him, he won(himself more hatred, than in all his life time ... had
been possible for him to have weeded out and removed." Unlikely
as it may seem (due to the amount of rebellion in his reign); Henry
left his eldest son an undisputed succession.

HENRY V (1413-1422)

Henry
V, the eldest son of Henry IV and Mary Bohun, was born in 1387. As
per arrangement by the Treaty of Troyes, he married Catherine,
daughter of the French King Charles VI, in June 1420. His only child,
the future Henry VI, was born in 1421.

Henry was an accomplished soldier: at
age fourteen he fought the Welsh forces of Owen ap Glendower; at age
sixteen he commanded his father's forces at the battle of Shrewsbury;
and shortly after his accession he put down a major Lollard uprising
and an assassination plot by nobles still loyal to Richard II . He
proposed to marry Catherine in 1415, demanding the old Plantagenet
lands of Normandy and Anjou as his dowry. Charles VI refused and
Henry declared war, opening yet another chapter in the Hundred Years'
War. The French war served two purposes - to gain lands lost in
previous battles and to focus attention away from any of his cousins'
royal ambitions. Henry,
possessed a masterful military mind and defeated the French at the
Battle of Agincourt in October 1415, and by 1419 had captured
Normandy, Picardy and much of the Capetian stronghold of the
Ile-de-France.

By the Treaty of Troyes in 1420,
Charles VI not only accepted Henry as his son-in-law, but passed over
his own son to name Henry as heir to the French crown. Had
Henry lived a mere two months longer, he would have been king of both
England and France.

Henry had prematurely aged due to
living the hard life of a soldier. He
became seriously ill and died after
returning from yet another French
campaign; Catherine had bore his only son
while he was away and Henry died having never seen the child. The
historian Rafael Holinshed, inChronicles of
England , summed up Henry's reign as such: "This Henry was a
king, of life without spot, a prince whom all men loved, and of none
disdained, e captain against whom fortune never frowned, nor
mischance once spurned, whose people him so severe a justicer both
loved and obeyed (and so humane withal) that he left no offence
unpunished, nor friendship unrewarded; a terror to rebels, and
suppressor of sedition, his virtues notable, his qualities most
praiseworthy."

HENRY VI (1422-61,
1470-71 AD)

Henry VI was the only child of Henry V and Catherine of
Valois, born on December 6, 1421. He married Margaret of Anjou in
1445; the union produced one son, Edward, who was killed in battle
one day before Henry's execution. Henry came to the throne as an
infant after the early death of his father; in name, he was king of
both England and France, but a protector ruled each realm. He was
educated by Richard Beauchamp beginning in 1428. The whole of Henry's
reign was involved with retaining both of his crowns - in the end, he
held neither.

Hostilities in France continued, but momentum swung to
the French with the appearance of Joan of Arc in 1428. The seventeen
year old was instrumental in rescuing the French Dauphin Charles in
1429; he was crowned at Reims as Charles VII, and she was burned at
the stake as a heretic. English losses in Brittany (1449), Normandy
(1450) and Gascony (1453) led to the conclusion of the Hundred Years'
War in 1453. Henry lost his claim to all French soil except for
Calais.

The Wars of the
Roses began in full during Henry's reign. In 1453, Henry had an
attack of the hereditary mental illness that plagued the French house
of Valois; Richard, Duke of York, was made protector of the realm
during the illness. His wife Margaret, a rather headstrong woman,
alienated Richard upon Henry's recovery and Richard responded by
attacking and defeating the queen's forces at St. Albans in 1455.
Richard captured the king in 1460 and forced him to acknowledge
Richard as heir to the crown. Henry escaped, joined the Lancastvian
forces and attacked at Towton in March 1461, only to be defeated by
the Yorks. Richard's son, Edward IV, was proclaimed king; Margaret
and Henry were exiled to Scotland. They were captured in 1465 and
imprisoned in the Tower of London until 1470. Henry was briefly
restored to power in Settember 1470. Edward, Prince of Wales, died
after his final victory at Tewkesbury on May 20, 1471 and Henry
returned to the Tower. The last Lancastrian king was murdered the
following day.

THE YORKISTS

The Yorkist conquest of the Lancastrians in 1461 did not
put an end to the Wars of the Roses, which rumbled on until the start
of the sixteenth century. Family disloyalty in the form of Richard
III's betrayal of his nephews, the young King Edward V and his
brother, was part of his downfall. Henry Tudor, a claimant to the
throne of Lancastrian descent, defeated Richard III in battle and
Richard was killed. With the marriage of Henry to Elizabeth, the
sister of the young Princes in the Tower, reconciliation was finally
achieved between the warring houses of Lancaster and York in the form
of the new Tudor dynasty, which combined their respective red and
white emblems to produce the Tudor rose.

EDWARD IV (1461-1470 and 1471-1483)

Edward
IV was able to restore order, despite the temporary return to the
throne of Henry VI (reigned 1470-71, during which time Edward fled to
the Continent in exile) supported by the Earl of Warwick, 'the
Kingmaker', who had previously supported Edward and who was killed at
the Battle of Barnet in 1471. Edward also made peace with France; by
a shrewd display of force to exert pressure, Edward reached a
profitable agreement with Louis XI at Picquigny in 1475. At home,
Edward relied heavily on his own personal control in government,
reviving the ancient custom of sitting in person 'on the bench' (i.e.
in judgement) to enforce justice. He sacked Lancastrian
office-holders and used his financial acumen to introduce tight
management of royal revenues to reduce the Crown's debt. Building
closer relations with the merchant community, he encouraged
commercial treaties; he successfully traded in wool on his own
account to restore his family's fortunes and enable the King to 'live
of his own', paying the costs of the country's administration from
the Crown Estates profits and freeing him from dependence on
subsidies from Parliament. Edward rebuilt St George's Chapel at
Windsor (possibly seeing it as a mausoleum for the Yorkists, as he
was buried there) and a new great hall at Eltham Palace. Edward
collected illuminated manuscripts - his is the only intact medieval
royal collection to survive (in the British Library) - and patronised
the new invention of printing. Edward died in 1483, leaving by his
marriage to Elizabeth Woodville a 12-year-old son, Edward, to succeed
him.

EDWARD
V (April-June 1483)

Edward V was a minor, and his uncle
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was made Protector. Richard had been
loyal throughout to his brother Edward IV including the events of
1470-71, Edward's exile and their brother's rebellion (the Duke of
Clarence, who was executed in 1478 by drowning, reputedly in a barrel
of Malmsey wine). However, he was suspicious of the Woodville
faction, possibly believing they were the cause of Clarence's death.
In response to an attempt by Elizabeth Woodville to take power,
Richard and Edward V entered London in May, with Edward's coronation
fixed for 22 June. However, in mid-June Richard assumed the throne as
Richard III (reigned 1483-85). Edward V and his younger brother
Richard were declared illegitimate, taken to the Royal apartments at
the Tower of London (then a Royal residence) and never seen again.
(Skeletons, allegedly theirs, found there in 1674 were later buried
in Westminster Abbey.)

RICHARD III (1483-1485)

Richard
III usurped the throne from the young Edward V, who disappeared with
his younger brother while under their ambitious uncle's supposed
protection. On becoming king, Richard attempted genuine
reconciliation with the Yorkists by showing consideration to
Lancastrians purged from office by Edward IV, and moved Henry VI's
body to St George's Chapel at Windsor. The first laws written
entirely in English were passed during his reign. In 1484, Richard's
only legitimate son Edward predeceased him. Before becoming king,
Richard had had a strong power base in the north, and his reliance on
northerners during his reign was to increase resentment in the south.
Richard concluded a truce with Scotland to reduce his commitments in
the north. Nevertheless, resentment against Richard grew. On 7 August
1485, Henry Tudor (a direct descendant through his mother Margaret
Beaufort, of John of Gaunt, one of Edward III's younger sons) landed
at Milford Haven in Wales to claim the throne. On 22 August, in a
two-hour battle at Bosworth, Henry's forces (assisted by Lord
Stanley's private army of around 7,000 which was deliberately posted
so that he could join the winning side) defeated Richard's larger
army and Richard was killed. Buried without a monument in Leicester,
Richard's bones were scattered during the English Reformation.

THE TUDORS

The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the
most well-known figures in Royal history. Of Welsh origin, Henry VII
succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of
Lancaster and York to found the highly successful Tudor house. Henry
VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary I and
Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful years.

During this period, England developed into one of the
leading European colonial powers, with men such as Sir Walter Raleigh
taking part in the conquest of the New World. Nearer to home,
campaigns in Ireland brought the country under strict English
control.

Culturally and socially, the Tudor period saw many
changes. The Tudor court played a prominent part in the cultural
Renaissance taking place in Europe, nurturing all-round individuals
such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Cardinal Wolsey. The
Tudor period also saw the turbulence of two changes of official
religion, resulting in the martyrdom of many innocent believers of
both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. The fear of Roman
Catholicism induced by the Reformation was to last for several
centuries and to play an influential role in the history of the
Succession.

Henry
VII, son of Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort, was born in 1457. He
married Elizabeth of York in 1486, who bore him four children:
Arthur, Henry, Margaret and Mary. He died in 1509 after reigning 24
years.

Henry descended from John of Gaunt, through the latter's
illicit affair with Catherine Swynford; although he was a
Lancastrian, he gained the throne through personal battle. The
Lancastrian victory at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 left Richard
III slain in the field, York ambitions routed and Henry proclaimed
king. From the onset of his reign, Henry was determined to bring
order to England after 85 years of civil war. His marriage to
Elizabeth of York combined both the Lancaster and York factions
within the Tudor line, eliminating further discord in regards to
succession. He faced two insurrections during his reign, each
centered around "pretenders" who claimed a closer dynastic
link to the Plantagenets than Henry. Lambert Simnel posed as the Earl
of Warwick, but his army was defeated and he was eventually pardoned
and forced to work in the king's kitchen. Perkin Warbeck posed as
Richard of York, Edward V's younger brother (and co-prisoner in the
Tower of London); Warbeck's support came from the continent, and
after repeated invasion attempts, Henry had him imprisoned and
executed.

Henry greatly strengthened the monarchy by employing
many political innovations to outmaneuver the nobility. The household
staff rose beyond mere servitude: Henry eschewed public appearances,
therefore, staff members were the few persons Henry saw on a regular
basis. He created the Committee of the Privy Council ,a forerunner of
the modern cabinet) as an executive advisory board; he established
the Court of the Star Chamber to increase royal involvement in civil
and criminal cases; and as an alternative to a revenue tax
disbursement from Parliament, he imposed forced loans and grants on
the nobility. Henry's mistrust of the nobility derived from his
experiences in the Wars of the Roses - a majority remained
dangerously neutral until the very end. His skill at by-passing
Parliament (and thus, the will of the nobility) played a crucial role
in his success at renovating government.

Henry's political acumen was also
evident in his handling of foreign affairs. He played Spain off of
France by arranging the marriage of his eldest son, Arthur, to
Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Arthur died
within months and Henry secured a papal dispensation for Catherine to
marry Arthur's brother, the future Henry VIII; this single event had
the widest-ranging effect of all Henry's actions: Henry VIII's
annulment from Catherine was the impetus for the separation of the
Church of England from the body of Roman Catholicism. The marriage of
Henry's daughter, Margaret, to James IV of Scotland would also have
later repercussions, as the marriage connected the royal families of
both England and Scotland, leading the Stuarts
to the throne after the extinction of the Tudor dynasty. Henry
encouraged trade and commerce by subsidizing ship building and
entering into lucrative trade agreements, thereby increasing the
wealth of both crown and nation.

Henry failed to appeal to the general populace: he
maintained a distance between king and subject. He brought the
nobility to heel out of necessity to transform the medieval
government that he inherited into an efficient tool for conducting
royal business. Law and trade replaced feudal obligation as the
Middle Ages began evolving into the modern world. Francis Bacon, in
his history of Henry VII, described the king as such: "He was of
a high mind, and loved his own will and his own way; as one that
revered himself, and would reign indeed. Had he been a private man he
would have been termed proud: But in a wise Prince, it was but
keeping of distance; which indeed he did towards all; not admitting
any near or full approach either to his power or to his secrets. For
he was governed by none."

HENRY
VIII (1509-47 AD)

Henry VIII, born in 1491, was the second son of Henry
VII and Elizabeth of York. The significance of Henry's reign is, at
times, overshadowed by his six marriages: dispensing with these
forthwith enables a deeper search into the major themes of the reign.
He married Catherine of Aragon (widow of his brother, Arthur) in
1509, divorcing her in 1533; the union produced one daughter, Mary.
Henry married the pregnant Anne Boleyn in 1533; she gave him another
daughter, Elizabeth, but was executed for infidelity (a treasonous
charge in the king's consort) in May 1536. He married Jane Seymour by
the end of the same month, who died giving birth to Henry's lone male
heir, Edward, in October 1536. Early in 1540, Henry arranged a
marriage with Anne of Cleves, after viewing Hans Holbein's beautiful
portrait of the German princess. In person, alas, Henry found her
homely and the marriage was never consummated. In July 1540, he
married the adulterous Catherine Howard - she was executed for
infidelity in March 1542. Catherine Parr became his wife in 1543,
providing for the needs of both Henry and his children until his
death in 1547.

The court life initiated by his father evolved into a
cornerstone of Tudor government in the reign of Henry VIII. After his
father's staunch, stolid rule, the energetic, youthful and handsome
king avoided governing in person, much preferring to journey the
countryside hunting and reviewing his subjects. Matters of state were
left in the hands of others, most notably Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop
of York. Cardinal Wolsey virtually ruled England until his failure to
secure the papal annulment that Henry needed to marry Anne Boleyn in
1533. Wolsey was quite capable as Lord Chancellor, but his own
interests were served more than that of the king: as powerful as he
was, he still was subject to Henry's favor - losing Henry's
confidence proved to be his downfall. The early part of Henry's
reign, however, saw the young king invade France, defeat Scottish
forces at the Battle of Foldden Field (in which James IV of Scotland
was slain), and write a treatise denouncing Martin Luther's Reformist
ideals, for which the pope awarded Henry the title "Defender of
the Faith".

The 1530's witnessed Henry's growing involvement in
government, and a series of events which greatly altered England, as
well as the whole of Western Christendom: the separation of the
Church of England from Roman Catholicism. The separation was actually
a by-product of Henry's obsession with producing a male heir;
Catherine of Aragon failed to produce a male and the need to maintain
dynastic legitimacy forced Henry to seek an annulment from the pope
in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Wolsey tried repeatedly to secure a
legal annulment from Pope Clement VII, but Clement was beholden to
the Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and nephew of Catherine. Henry
summoned the Reformation Parliament in 1529, which passed 137
statutes in seven years and exercised an influence in political and
ecclesiastic affairs which was unknown to feudal parliaments.
Religious reform movements had already taken hold in England, but on
a small scale: the Lollards had been in existence since the
mid-fourteenth century and the ideas of Luther and Zwingli circulated
within intellectual groups, but continental Protestantism had yet to
find favor with the English people. The break from Rome was
accomplished through law, not social outcry; Henry, as Supreme Head
of the Church of England, acknowledged this by slight alterations in
worship ritual instead of a wholesale reworking of religious dogma.
England moved into an era of "conformity of mind" with the
new royal supremacy (much akin to the absolutism of France's Louis
XIV): by 1536, all ecclesiastical and government officials were
required to publicly approve of the break with Rome and take an oath
of loyalty. The king moved away from the medieval idea of ruler as
chief lawmaker and overseer of civil behavior, to the modern idea of
ruler as the ideological icon of the state.

The remainder of Henry's reign was anticlimactic. Anne
Boleyn lasted only three years before her execution; she was replaced
by Jane Seymour, who laid Henry's dynastic problems to rest with the
birth of Edward VI. Fragmented noble factions involved in the Wars of
the Roses found themselves reduced to vying for the king's favor in
court. Reformist factions won the king's confidence and vastly
benefiting from Henry's dissolution of the monasteries, as monastic
lands and revenues went either to the crown or the nobility. The
royal staff continued the rise in status that began under Henry VII,
eventually to rival the power of the nobility. Two men, in
particular, were prominent figures through the latter stages of
Henry's reign: Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer. Cromwell, an
efficient administrator, succeeded Wolsey as Lord Chancellor,
creating new governmental departments for the varying types of
revenue and establishing parish priest's duty of recording births,
baptisms, marriages and deaths. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury,
dealt with and guided changes in ecclesiastical policy and oversaw
the dissolution of the monasteries.

Henry VIII built upon the innovations instituted by his
father. The break with Rome, coupled with an increase in governmental
bureaucracy, led to the royal supremacy that would last until the
execution of Charles I and the establishment of the Commonwealth one
hundred years after Henry's death. Henry was beloved by his subjects,
facing only one major insurrection, the Pilgrimage of Grace, enacted
by the northernmost counties in retaliation to the break with Rome
and the poor economic state of the region. History remembers Henry in
much the same way as Piero Pasqualigo, a Venetian ambassador: "...
he is in every respect a most accomplished prince."

EDWARD VI (1547-1553 AD)

Edward
VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, was born in 1537. He ascended
the throne at age nine, upon the death of his father. He was
betrothed to his cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, but deteriorating
English-Scot relations prohibited their marriage. The frail,
Protestant boy died of consumption at age sixteen having never
married. Edward's reign was beset by problems from the onset.
Ascending the throne while stillin his minority presented a backdrop
for factional in fighting and power plays. Henry VIII, in his last
days, sought to eliminate this potential problem by decreeing that a
Council of Regency would govern until the child came of age, but
Edward Seymour (Edward VI's uncle) gained the upper hand. The Council
offered Seymour the Protectorship of the realm and the Dukedom of
Somerset; he genuinely cared for both the boy and the realm, but used
the Protectorship, as well as Edward's religious radicalism, to
further his Protestant interests. The Book of Common Prayer, the
eloquent work of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, was instituted in 1549 as
a handbook to the new style of worship that skated controversial
issues in an effort to pacify Catholics. Henrician treason and heresy
laws were repealed, transforming England into a haven for continental
heretics. Catholics were pleased with the softer version of
Protestantism, but radical Protestants clamored for further reforms,
adding to the ever-present factional discord. Economic hardship
plagued England during Edward's rule and foreign relations were in a
state of disarray. The new faith and the dissolution of the
monasteries left a considerable amount of ecclesiastical officials
out of work, at a time when unemployment soared; enclosure of
monastic lands deprived many peasants of their means of subsistence.
The coinage lost value as new coins were minted from inferior metals,
as specie from the New World flooded English markets. A
French/Scottish alliance threatened England, prompting Somerset to
invade Scotland, where Scottish forces were trounced at Pinkie. Then
general unrest and factional maneuvering proved Somerset's undoing;
he was executed in September 1552. Thus began one of the most corrupt
eras of English political history. The author of this corruption was
the Earl of Warwick, John Dudley. Dudley was an ambitious political
survivor driven by the desire to become the largest landowner in
England. Dudley coerced Edward by claiming that the boy had reached
manhood on his 12th birthday and was now ready to rule; Dudley also
held Edward's purse strings. Dudley was created Duke of
Northumberland and virtually ruled England, although he had no
official title. The Council, under his leadership, systematically
confiscated church territories, as the recent wave of radical
Protestantism seemed a logical, and justifiable, continuation of
Henrician reform. Northumberland's ambitions grew in proportion to
his gains of power: he desperately sought to connect himself to the
royal family. Northumberland was given the opportunity to indulge in
king making - the practice by which an influential noble named the
next successor, such as Richard Neville during the Wars of the Roses
- when Edward was diagnosed with consumption in January 1553. Henry
VIII named the line of succession in his will;next in line after
Edward were his sisters Mary and Elizabeth, followed by the
descendants of Henry's sister, Mary: Frances Grey and her children.
Northumberland convinced Edward that his Catholic sister, Mary, would
ruin the Protestant reforms enacted throughout the reign; in
actuality, he knew Mary would restore Catholicism and return the
confiscated Church territories which were making the Council very
rich. Northumberland's appeal to Edward's radicalism worked as
intended: the dying lad declared his sisters to be bastards and
passed the succession to Frances Grey's daughter, Lady Jane Grey, one
of the boy's only true friends. Northumberland impelled the Greys to
consent to a marriage between his son, Guildford and Lady Jane.
Edward died on July 6, 1553, leaving a disputed succession. Jane,
against her wishes, was declared queen by the Council. Mary retreated
to Framlingham in Suffolk and claimed the throne. Northumberland took
an army to capture Mary, but bungled the escapade. The Council
abandoned Northumberland as Mary collected popular support and rode
triumphantly into London. Jane after a reign of only nine days, was
imprisoned in the Tower of London until her 1554 execution at the
hands of her cousin Mary. Edward was a highly intellectual and pious
lad who fell prey to the machinations of his powerful Council of
Regency. His frailty led to an early death. Had he lived into
manhood, he potentially could have become one of England's greatest
kings. Jane Austen wrote, "This Man was on the whole of a very
amiable character...", to which Beckett added, " as docile
as a lamb, if indeed his gentleness did not amount to absolute
sheepishness."

LADY
JANE GREY (10-19 July 1553)

The Accession of Lady Jane Grey was engineered by the
powerful Duke of Northumberland, President of the King's Council, in
the interests of promoting his own dynastic line. Northumberland
persuaded the sickly Edward VI to name Lady Jane Grey as his heir. As
one of Henry VIII's great-nieces, the young girl was a genuine
claimant to the throne. Northumberland then married his own son, Lord
Guilford Dudley, to Lady Jane. On the death of Edward, Jane assumed
the throne and her claim was recognised by the Council. Despite this,
the country rallied to Mary, Catherine of Aragon's daughter and a
devout Roman Catholic. Jane reigned for only nine days and was later
executed with her husband in 1554.

MARY I
(1553-1558)

Mary
I was the first Queen Regnant (that is, a queen reigning in her own
right rather than a queen through marriage to a king). Courageous and
stubborn, her character was moulded by her earlier years: an Act of
Parliament in 1533 had declared her illegitimate and removed her from
the succession to the throne (she was reinstated in 1544, but her
half-brother Edward removed her from the succession once more shortly
before his death), whilst she was pressurised to give up the Mass and
acknowledge the English Protestant Church.

Mary restored papal supremacy in England, abandoned the
title of Supreme Head of the Church, reintroduced Roman Catholic
bishops and began the slow reintroduction of monastic orders. Mary
also revived the old heresy laws to secure the religious conversion
of the country; heresy was regarded as a religious and civil offence
amounting to treason (to believe in a different religion from the
Sovereign was an act of defiance and disloyalty). As a result, around
300 Protestant heretics were burnt in three years - apart from
eminent Protestant clergy such as Cranmer (a former archbishop and
author of two Books of Common Prayer), Latimer and Ridley, these
heretics were mostly poor and self-taught people. Apart from making
Mary deeply unpopular, such treatment demonstrated that people were
prepared to die for the Protestant settlement established in Henry's
reign. The progress of Mary's conversion of the country was also
limited by the vested interests of the aristocracy and gentry who had
bought the monastic lands sold off after the Dissolution of the
Monasteries, and who refused to return these possessions voluntarily
as Mary invited them to do.

Aged 37 at her accession, Mary wished to marry and have
children, thus leaving a Catholic heir to consolidate her religious
reforms, and removing her half-sister Elizabeth (a focus for
Protestant opposition) from direct succession. Mary's decision to
marry Philip, King of Spain from 1556, in 1554 was very unpopular;
the protest from the Commons prompted Mary's reply that Parliament
was 'not accustomed to use such language to the Kings of England' and
that in her marriage 'she would choose as God inspired her'. The
marriage was childless, Philip spent most of it on the continent,
England obtained no share in the Spanish monopolies in New World
trade and the alliance with Spain dragged England into a war with
France. Popular discontent grew when Calais, the last vestige of
England's possessions in France dating from William the Conqueror's
time, was captured by the French in 1558. Dogged by ill health, Mary
died later that year, possibly from cancer, leaving the crown to her
half-sister Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH
I (1558-1603)

Elizabeth I - the last Tudor monarch - was born at
Greenwich on 7 September 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his
second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her early life was full of uncertainties,
and her chances of succeeding to the throne seemed very slight once
her half-brother Edward was born in 1537. She was then third in line
behind her Roman Catholic half-sister, Princess Mary. Roman
Catholics, indeed, always considered her illegitimate and she only
narrowly escaped execution in the wake of a failed rebellion against
Queen Mary in 1554.

Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on her half-sister's
death in November 1558. She was very well-educated (fluent in six
languages), and had inherited intelligence, determination and
shrewdness from both parents. Her 45-year reign is generally
considered one of the most glorious in English history. During it a
secure Church of England was established. Its doctrines were laid
down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise between Roman
Catholicism and Protestantism. Elizabeth herself refused to 'make
windows into men's souls ... there is only one Jesus Christ and all
the rest is a dispute over trifles'; she asked for outward
uniformity. Most of her subjects accepted the compromise as the basis
of their faith, and her church settlement probably saved England from
religious wars like those which France suffered in the second half of
the 16th century.

Although autocratic and capricious, Elizabeth had astute
political judgement and chose her ministers well; these included
Burghley (Secretary of State), Hatton (Lord Chancellor) and
Walsingham (in charge of intelligence and also a Secretary of State).
Overall, Elizabeth's administration consisted of some 600 officials
administering the great offices of state, and a similar number
dealing with the Crown lands (which funded the administrative costs).
Social and economic regulation and law and order remained in the
hands of the sheriffs at local level, supported by unpaid justices of
the peace.

Elizabeth's reign also saw many brave voyages of
discovery, including those of Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and
Humphrey Gilbert, particularly to the Americas. These expeditions
prepared England for an age of colonisation and trade expansion,
which Elizabeth herself recognised by establishing the East India
Company in 1600.

The arts flourished during Elizabeth's reign. Country
houses such as Longleat and Hardwick Hall were built, miniature
painting reached its high point, theatres thrived - the Queen
attended the first performance of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's
Dream. The image of Elizabeth's reign is one of triumph and success.
The Queen herself was often called 'Gloriana', 'Good Queen Bess' and
'The Virgin Queen'. Investing in expensive clothes and jewellery (to
look the part, like all contemporary sovereigns), she cultivated this
image by touring the country in regional visits known as
'progresses', often riding on horseback rather than by carriage.
Elizabeth made at least 25 progresses during her reign.

However, Elizabeth's reign was one of considerable
danger and difficulty for many, with threats of invasion from Spain
through Ireland, and from France through Scotland. Much of northern
England was in rebellion in 1569-70. A papal bull of 1570
specifically released Elizabeth's subjects from their allegiance, and
she passed harsh laws against Roman Catholics after plots against her
life were discovered. One such plot involved Mary, Queen of Scots,
who had fled to England in 1568 after her second husband's murder and
her subsequent marriage to a man believed to have been involved in
his murder. As a likely successor to Elizabeth, Mary spent 19 years
as Elizabeth's prisoner because Mary was the focus for rebellion and
possible assassination plots, such as the Babington Plot of 1586.
Mary was also a temptation for potential invaders such as Philip II.
In a letter of 1586 to Mary, Elizabeth wrote, 'You have planned ...
to take my life and ruin my kingdom ... I never proceeded so harshly
against you.' Despite Elizabeth's reluctance to take drastic action,
on the insistence of Parliament and her advisers, Mary was tried,
found guilty and executed in 1587.

In 1588, aided by bad weather, the English navy scored a
great victory over the Spanish invasion fleet of around 130 ships -
the 'Armada'. The Armada was intended to overthrow the Queen and
re-establish Roman Catholicism by conquest, as Philip II believed he
had a claim to the English throne through his marriage to Mary.

During Elizabeth's long reign, the nation also suffered
from high prices and severe economic depression, especially in the
countryside, during the 1590s. The war against Spain was not very
successful after the Armada had been beaten and, together with other
campaigns, it was very costly. Though she kept a tight rein on
government expenditure, Elizabeth left large debts to her successor.
Wars during Elizabeth's reign are estimated to have cost over £5
million (at the prices of the time) which Crown revenues could not
match - in 1588, for example, Elizabeth's total annual revenue
amounted to some £392,000. Despite the combination of financial
strains and prolonged war after 1588, Parliament was not summoned
more often. There were only 16 sittings of the Commons during
Elizabeth's reign, five of which were in the period 1588-1601.
Although Elizabeth freely used her power to veto legislation, she
avoided confrontation and did not attempt to define Parliament's
constitutional position and rights.

Elizabeth chose never to marry. If she had chosen a
foreign prince, he would have drawn England into foreign policies for
his own advantages (as in her sister Mary's marriage to Philip of
Spain); marrying a fellow countryman could have drawn the Queen into
factional infighting. Elizabeth used her marriage prospects as a
political tool in foreign and domestic policies. However, the 'Virgin
Queen' was presented as a selfless woman who sacrificed personal
happiness for the good of the nation, to which she was, in essence,
'married'. Late in her reign, she addressed Parliament in the
so-called 'Golden Speech' of 1601 when she told MPs: 'There is no
jewel, be it of never so high a price, which I set before this jewel;
I mean your love.' She seems to have been very popular with the vast
majority of her subjects.

Overall, Elizabeth's always shrewd and, when necessary,
decisive leadership brought successes during a period of great danger
both at home and abroad. She died at Richmond Palace on 24 March
1603, having become a legend in her lifetime. The date of her
accession was a national holiday for two hundred years.

THE STUARTS

The Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom.
King James I of England who began the period was also King James VI
of Scotland, thus combining the two thrones for the first time.

The Stuart dynasty reigned in England and Scotland from
1603 to 1714, a period which saw a flourishing Court culture but also
much upheaval and instability, of plague, fire and war. It was an age
of intense religious debate and radical politics. Both contributed to
a bloody civil war in the mid-seventeenth century between Crown and
Parliament (the Cavaliers and the Roundheads), resulting in a
parliamentary victory for Oliver Cromwell and the dramatic execution
of King Charles I. There was a short-lived republic, the first time
that the country had experienced such an event. The Restoration of
the Crown was soon followed by another 'Glorious' Revolution. William
and Mary of Orange ascended the throne as joint monarchs and
defenders of Protestantism, followed by Queen Anne, the second of
James II's daughters.

The end of the Stuart line with the death of Queen Anne
led to the drawing up of the Act of Settlement in 1701, which
provided that only Protestants could hold the throne. The next in
line according to the provisions of this act was George of Hanover,
yet Stuart princes remained in the wings. The Stuart legacy was to
linger on in the form of claimants to the Crown for another century.

JAMES I (1603-25 AD)

James
I was born in 1566 to Mary Queen of Scots and her second husband,
Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. He descended from the Tudors through
Margaret, daughter of Henry VII : both Mary Queen of Scots and Henry
Stewart were grandchildren of Margaret Tudor. James ascended the
Scottish throne upon the abdication of his mother in 1567, but
Scotland was ruled by regent untilJames reached his majority. He
married Anne of Denmark in 1589, who bore him three sons and four
daughters: Henry, Elizabeth, Margaret, Charles, Robert, Mary and
Sophia. He was named successor to the English throne by his cousin,
Elizabeth I and ascended that throne in 1603. James died of a stroke
in 1625 after ruling Scotland for 58 years and England for 22 years.

James was profoundly affected by his years as a boy in
Scottish court. Murder and intrigue had plagued the Scottish throne
throughout the reigns of his mother and grandfather (James V) and had
no less bearing during James's rule. His father had been butchered
mere months after James' birth by enemies of Mary and Mary, because
of her indiscretions and Catholic faith, was forced to abdicate the
throne. Thus, James developed a guarded manner. He was thrilled to
take the English crown and leave the strictures and poverty of the
Scottish court.

James' twenty-nine years of Scottish kingship did little
to prepare him for the English monarchy: England and Scotland, rivals
for superiority on the island since the first emigration of the
Anglo-Saxon races, virtually hated each other. This inherent
mistrust, combined with Catholic-Protestant and Episcopal-Puritan
tensions, severely limited James' prospects of a truly successful
reign. His personality also caused problems: he was witty and
well-read, fiercely believed in the divine right of kingship and his
own importance, but found great difficulty in gaining acceptance from
an English society that found his rough-hewn manners and natural
paranoia quite unbecoming. James saw little use for Parliament. His
extravagant spending habits and nonchalant ignoring of the nobility's
grievances kept king and Parliament constantly at odds. He came to
the thrown at the zenith of monarchical power, but never truly
grasped the depth and scope of that power.

Religious dissension was the basis of an event that
confirmed and fueled James' paranoia: the Gunpowder Plot of November
5, 1605. Guy Fawkes and four other Catholic dissenters were caught
attempting to blow up the House of Lords on a day in which the king
was to open the session. The conspirators were executed, but a fresh
wave of anti-Catholic sentiments washed across England. James also
disliked the Puritans who became excessive in their demands on the
king, resulting in the first wave of English immigrants to North
America. James, however, did manage to commission an Authorized
Version of the Bible, printed in English in 1611.

The relationship between king and Parliament steadily
eroded. Extravagant spending (particularly on James' favorites),
inflation and bungled foreign policies discredited James in the eyes
of Parliament. Parliament flatly refused to disburse funds to a king
who ignored their concerns and were annoyed by rewards lavished on
favorites and great amounts spent on decoration. James awarded over
200 peerages (landed titles) as, essentially, bribes designed to win
loyalty, the most controversial of which was his creation of George
Villiers (his closest advisor and homosexual partner) as Duke of
Buckingham. Buckingham was highly influential in foreign policy,
which failed miserably. James tried to kindle Spanish relations by
seeking a marriage between his son Charles and the Spanish Infanta
(who was less than receptive to the clumsy overtures of Charles and
Buckingham), and by executing Sir Walter Raleigh at the behest of
Spain.

James was not wholly unsuccessful as king, but his
Scottish background failed to translate well into a changing English
society. He is described, albeit humorously, in 1066 and All That, as
such: "James I slobbered at the mouth and had favourites; he was
thus a bad king"; Sir Anthony Weldon made a more somber
observation: "He was very crafty and cunning in petty things, as
the circumventing any great man, the change of a Favourite, &c.
inasmuch as a very wise man was wont to say, he believed him the very
wisest fool in Christendom."

CHARLES
I (1625-49)

Charles
I was born in Fife on 19 November 1600, the second son of James VI of
Scotland (from 1603 also James I of England) and Anne of Denmark. He
became heir to the throne on the death of his brother, Prince Henry,
in 1612. He succeeded, as the second Stuart King of England, in 1625.

Controversy and disputes dogged Charles throughout his
reign. They eventually led to civil wars, first with the Scots from
1637 and later in England (1642-46 and 1648). The Civil Wars deeply
divided people at the time, and historians still disagree about the
real causes of the conflict, but it is clear that Charles was not a
successful ruler.

Charles was reserved (he had a residual stammer),
self-righteous and had a high concept of royal authority, believing
in the divine right of kings. He was a good linguist and a sensitive
man of refined tastes. He spent a lot on the arts, inviting the
artists Van Dyck and Rubens to work in England, and buying a great
collection of paintings by Raphael and Titian (this collection was
later dispersed under Cromwell). His expenditure on his court and his
picture collection greatly increased the crown's debts. Indeed,
crippling lack of money was a key problem for both the early Stuart
monarchs.

Charles was also deeply religious. He favoured the high
Anglican form of worship, with much ritual, while many of his
subjects, particularly in Scotland, wanted plainer forms. Charles
found himself ever more in disagreement on religious and financial
matters with many leading citizens. Having broken an engagement to
the Spanish infanta, he had married a Roman Catholic, Henrietta Maria
of France, and this only made matters worse. Although Charles had
promised Parliament in 1624 that there would be no advantages for
recusants (people refusing to attend Church of England services),
were he to marry a Roman Catholic bride, the French insisted on a
commitment to remove all disabilities upon Roman Catholic subjects.
Charles's lack of scruple was shown by the fact that this commitment
was secretly added to the marriage treaty, despite his promise to
Parliament.

Charles had inherited disagreements with Parliament from
his father, but his own actions (particularly engaging in ill-fated
wars with France and Spain at the same time) eventually brought about
a crisis in 1628-29. Two expeditions to France failed - one of which
had been led by Buckingham, a royal favourite of both James I and
Charles I, who had gained political influence and military power.
Such was the general dislike of Buckingham, that he was impeached by
Parliament in 1628, although he was murdered by a fanatic before he
could lead the second expedition to France. The political controversy
over Buckingham demonstrated that, although the monarch's right to
choose his own Ministers was accepted as an essential part of the
royal prerogative, Ministers had to be acceptable to Parliament or
there would be repeated confrontations. The King's chief opponent in
Parliament until 1629 was Sir John Eliot, who was finally imprisoned
in the Tower of London until his death in 1632.

Tensions between the King and Parliament centred around
finances, made worse by the costs of war abroad, and by religious
suspicions at home (Charles's marriage was seen as ominous, at a time
when plots against Elizabeth I and the Gunpowder Plot in James I's
reign were still fresh in the collective memory, and when the
Protestant cause was going badly in the war in Europe). In the first
four years of his rule, Charles was faced with the alternative of
either obtaining parliamentary funding and having his policies
questioned by argumentative Parliaments who linked the issue of
supply to remedying their grievances, or conducting a war without
subsidies from Parliament. Charles dismissed his fourth Parliament in
March 1629 and decided to make do without either its advice or the
taxes which it alone could grant legally.

Although opponents later called this period 'the Eleven
Years' Tyranny', Charles's decision to rule without Parliament was
technically within the King's royal prerogative, and the absence of a
Parliament was less of a grievance to many people than the efforts to
raise revenue by non-parliamentary means. Charles's leading advisers,
including William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Earl of
Strafford, were efficient but disliked. For much of the 1630s, the
King gained most of the income he needed from such measures as
impositions, exploitation of forest laws, forced loans, wardship and,
above all, ship money (extended in 1635 from ports to the whole
country). These measures made him very unpopular, alienating many who
were the natural supporters of the Crown.

Scotland (which Charles had left at the age of 3,
returning only for his coronation in 1633) proved the catalyst for
rebellion. Charles's attempt to impose a High Church liturgy and
prayer book in Scotland had prompted a riot in 1637 in Edinburgh
which escalated into general unrest. Charles had to recall
Parliament; however, the Short Parliament of April 1640 queried
Charles's request for funds for war against the Scots and was
dissolved within weeks. The Scots occupied Newcastle and, under the
treaty of Ripon, stayed in occupation of Northumberland and Durham
and they were to be paid a subsidy until their grievances were
redressed.

Charles was finally forced to call another Parliament in
November 1640. This one, which came to be known as The Long
Parliament, started with the imprisonment of Laud and Strafford (the
latter was executed within six months, after a Bill of Attainder
which did not allow for a defence), and the abolition of the King's
Council (Star Chamber), and moved on to declare ship money and other
fines illegal. The King agreed that Parliament could not be dissolved
without its own consent, and the Triennial Act of 1641 meant that no
more than three years could elapse between Parliaments.

The Irish uprising of October 1641
raised tensions between the King and Parliament over the command of
the Army. Parliament issued a Grand Remonstrance repeating their
grievances, impeached 12 bishops and attempted to impeach the Queen.
Charles responded by entering the Commons in a failed attempt to
arrest five Members of Parliament, who had fled before his arrival.
Parliament reacted by passing a Militia Bill allowing troops to be
raised only under officers approved by Parliament. Finally, on 22
August 1642 at Nottingham, Charles raised the Royal Standard calling
for loyal subjects to support him (Oxford was to be the King's
capital during the war). The Civil War, what Sir William Waller (a
Parliamentary general and moderate) called 'this war without an
enemy', had begun.

The Battle of Edgehill in October 1642 showed that early
on the fighting was even. Broadly speaking, Charles retained the
north, west and south-west of the country, and Parliament had London,
East Anglia and the south-east, although there were pockets of
resistance everywhere, ranging from solitary garrisons to whole
cities. However, the Navy sided with Parliament (which made
continental aid difficult), and Charles lacked the resources to hire
substantial mercenary help.

Parliament had entered an armed alliance with the
predominant Scottish Presbyterian group under the Solemn League and
Covenant of 1643, and from 1644 onwards Parliament's armies gained
the upper hand - particularly with the improved training and
discipline of the New Model Army. The Self-Denying Ordinance was
passed to exclude Members of Parliament from holding army commands,
thereby getting rid of vacillating or incompetent earlier
Parliamentary generals. Under strong generals like Sir Thomas Fairfax
and Oliver Cromwell, Parliament won victories at Marston Moor (1644)
and Naseby (1645). The capture of the King's secret correspondence
after Naseby showed the extent to which he had been seeking help from
Ireland and from the Continent, which alienated many moderate
supporters.

In May 1646, Charles placed himself in the hands of the
Scottish Army (who handed him to the English Parliament after nine
months in return for arrears of payment - the Scots had failed to win
Charles's support for establishing Presbyterianism in England).
Charles did not see his action as surrender, but as an opportunity to
regain lost ground by playing one group off against another; he saw
the monarchy as the source of stability and told parliamentary
commanders 'you cannot be without me: you will fall to ruin if I do
not sustain you'. In Scotland and Ireland, factions were arguing,
whilst in England there were signs of division in Parliament between
the Presbyterians and the Independents, with alienation from the Army
(where radical doctrines such as that of the Levellers were
threatening commanders' authority). Charles's negotiations continued
from his captivity at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight (to
which he had 'escaped' from Hampton Court in November 1647) and led
to the Engagement with the Scots, under which the Scots would provide
an army for Charles in exchange for the imposition of the Covenant on
England. This led to the second Civil War of 1648, which ended with
Cromwell's victory at Preston in August.

The Army, concluding that permanent peace was impossible
whilst Charles lived, decided that the King must be put on trial and
executed. In December, Parliament was purged, leaving a small rump
totally dependent on the Army, and the Rump Parliament established a
High Court of Justice in the first week of January 1649. On 20
January, Charles was charged with high treason 'against the realm of
England'. Charles refused to plead, saying that he did not recognise
the legality of the High Court (it had been established by a Commons
purged of dissent, and without the House of Lords - nor had the
Commons ever acted as a judicature).

The King was sentenced to death on 27 January. Three
days later, Charles was beheaded on a scaffold outside the Banqueting
House in Whitehall, London. The King asked for warm clothing before
his execution: 'the season is so sharp as probably may make me shake,
which some observers may imagine proceeds from fear. I would have no
such imputation.' On the scaffold, he repeated his case: 'I must tell
you that the liberty and freedom [of the people] consists in having
of Government, those laws by which their life and their goods may be
most their own. It is not for having share in Government, Sir, that
is nothing pertaining to them. A subject and a sovereign are clean
different things. If I would have given way to an arbitrary way, for
to have all laws changed according to the Power of the Sword, I
needed not to have come here, and therefore I tell you ... that I am
the martyr of the people.' His final words were 'I go from a
corruptible to an incorruptible Crown, where no disturbance can be.'

The King was buried on 9 February at Windsor, rather
than Westminster Abbey, to avoid public disorder. To avoid the
automatic succession of Charles I's son Charles, an Act was passed on
30 January forbidding the proclaiming of another monarch. On 7
February 1649, the office of King was formally abolished.

The Civil Wars were essentially confrontations between
the monarchy and Parliament over the definitions of the powers of the
monarchy and Parliament's authority. These constitutional
disagreements were made worse by religious animosities and financial
disputes. Both sides claimed that they stood for the rule of law, yet
civil war was by definition a matter of force. Charles I, in his
unwavering belief that he stood for constitutional and social
stability, and the right of the people to enjoy the benefits of that
stability, fatally weakened his position by failing to negotiate a
compromise with Parliament and paid the price. To many, Charles was
seen as a martyr for his people and, to this day, wreaths of
remembrance are laid by his supporters on the anniversary of his
death at his statue, which faces down Whitehall to the site of his
execution.

THE
COMMONWEALTH INTERREGNUM
(1649-1660)

Cromwell's convincing military successes at Drogheda in
Ireland (1649), Dunbar in Scotland (1650) and Worcester in England
(1651) forced Charles I's son, Charles, into foreign exile despite
being accepted as King in Scotland.

From 1649 to 1660, England was therefore a republic
during a period known as the Interregnum ('between reigns'). A series
of political experiments followed, as the country's rulers tried to
redefine and establish a workable constitution without a monarchy.

Throughout the Interregnum, Cromwell's relationship with
Parliament was a troubled one, with tensions over the nature of the
constitution and the issue of supremacy, control of the armed forces
and debate over religious toleration. In 1653 Parliament was
dissolved, and under the Instrument of Government, Oliver Cromwell
became Lord Protector, later refusing the offer of the throne.
Further disputes with the House of Commons followed; at one stage
Cromwell resorted to regional rule by a number of the army's major
generals. After Cromwell's death in 1658, and the failure of his son
Richard's short-lived Protectorate, the army under General Monk
invited Charles I's son, Charles, to become King.

OLIVER CROMWELL (1649-1658)

Oliver
Cromwell, born in Huntingdon in 1599, was a strict Puritan with a
Cambridge education when he went to London to represent his family in
Parliament. Clothed conservatively, he possessed a Puritan fervor and
a commanding voice, he quickly made a name for himself by serving in
both the Short Parliament (April 1640) and the Long Parliament
(August 1640 through April 1660). Charles I, pushing his finances to
bankruptcy and trying to force a new prayer book on Scotland, was
badly beaten by the Scots, who demanded Ј850
per day from the English until the two sides reached agreement.
Charles had no choice but to summon Parliament.

The Long Parliament, taking an
aggressive stance, steadfastly refused to authorize any funding until
Charles was brought to heel. The Triennial Act of 1641 assured the
summoning of Parliament at least every three years, a formidable
challenge to royal prerogative. The Tudor institutions of fiscal
feudalism (manipulating antiquated feudal fealty laws to extract
money), the Court of the Star Chamber and the Court of High
Commission were declared illegal by Act of Parliament later in 1641.
A new era of leadership from the House of Commons (backed by middle
class merchants, tradesmen and Puritans) had commenced. Parliament
resented the insincerity with which Charles settled with both them
and the Scots, and despised his links with Catholicism.

1642 was a banner year for Parliament. They stripped
Charles of the last vestiges of prerogative by abolishing episcopacy,
placed the army and navy directly under parliamentary supervision and
declared this bill become law even if the king refused his signature.
Charles entered the House of Commons (the first king to do so),
intent on arresting John Pym, the leader of Parliament and four
others, but the five conspirators had already fled, making the king
appear inept. Charles traveled north to recruit an army and raised
his standard against the forces of Parliaments (Roundheads) at
Nottingham on August 22, 1642. England was again embroiled in civil
war.

Cromwell added sixty horses to the Roundhead cause when
war broke out. In the 1642 Battle at Edge Hill, the Roundheads were
defeated by the superior Royalist (Cavalier) cavalry, prompting
Cromwell to build a trained cavalry. Cromwell proved most capable as
a military leader. By the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, Cromwell's
New Model Army had routed Cavalier forces and Cromwell earned the
nickname "Ironsides" in the process. Fighting lasted until
July 1645 at the final Cavalier defeat at Naseby. Within a year,
Charles surrendered to the Scots, who turned him over to Parliament.
By 1646, England was ruled solely by Parliament, although the king
was not executed until 1649.

English society splintered into many factions: Levellers
(intent on eradicating economic castes), Puritans, Episcopalians,
remnants of the Cavaliers and other religious and political radicals
argued over the fate of the realm. The sole source of authority rest
with the army, who moved quickly to end the debates. In November
1648, the Long Parliament was reduced to a "Rump"
Parliament by the forced removal of 110 members of Parliament by
Cromwell's army, with another 160 members refusing to take their
seats in opposition to the action. The remainder, barely enough for a
quorum, embarked on an expedition of constitutional change. The Rump
dismantled the machinery of government, most of that, remained loyal
to the king, abolishing not only the monarchy, but also the Privy
Council, Courts of Exchequer and Admiralty and even the House of
Lords. England was ruled by an executive Council of State and the
Rump Parliament, with various subcommittees dealing with day-to-day
affairs. Of great importance was the administration in the shires and
parishes: the machinery administering such governments was left
intact; ingrained habits of ruling and obeying harkened back to
monarchy.

With the death of the ancient
constitution and Parliament in control, attention was turned to
crushing rebellions in the realm, as well as in Ireland and Scotland.
Cromwell forced submission from the nobility, muzzled the press and
defeated Leveller rebels in Burford. Annihilating the more radical
elements of revolution resulted in political conservatism, which
eventually led to the restoration of the monarchy. Cromwell's army
slaughtered over forty percent of the indigenous Irishmen, who clung
unyieldingly to Catholicism and loyalist sentiments; the remaining
Irishmen were forcibly transported to County Connaught with the Act
of Settlement in 1653. Scottish Presbyterians fought for a Stuart
restoration, in the person of Charles II, but were handily defeated,
ending the last remnants of civil war. The army then turned its
attention to internal matters.

The Rump devolved into a petty, self-perpetuating and
unbending oligarchy, which lost credibility in the eyes of the army.
Cromwell ended the Rump Parliament with great indignity on April 21,
1653, ordering the house cleared at the point of a sword. The army
called for a new Parliament of Puritan saints, who proved as inept as
the Rump. By 1655, Cromwell dissolved his new Parliament, choosing to
rule alone (much like Charles I had done in 1629). The cost of
keeping a standard army of 35,000 proved financially incompatible
with Cromwell's monetarily strapped government. Two wars with the
Dutch concerning trade abroad added to Cromwell's financial burdens.

The military's solution was to form yet another version
of Parliament. A House of Peers was created, packed with Cromwell's
supporters and with true veto power, but the Commons proved most
antagonistic towards Cromwell. The monarchy was restored in all but
name; Cromwell went from the title of Lord General of the Army to
that of Lord Protector of the Realm (the title of king was suggested,
but wisely rejected by Cromwell when a furor arose in the military
ranks). The Lord Protector died on September 3, 1658, naming his son
Richard as successor. With Cromwell's death, the Commonwealth
floundered and the monarchy was restored only two years later.

The failure of Cromwell and the
Commonwealth was founded upon Cromwell being caught between opposing
forces. His attempts to placate the army, the nobility, Puritans and
Parliament resulted in the alienation of each group. Leaving the
political machinery of the parishes and shires untouched under the
new constitution was the height of inconsistency; Cromwell, the army
and Parliament were unable to make a clear separation from the
ancient constitution and traditional customs of loyalty and obedience
to monarchy. Lacey Baldwin Smith cast an astute judgment concerning
the aims of the Commonwealth: "When Commons was purged out of
existence by a military force of its own creation, the country
learned a profound, if bitter, Lesson: Parliament could no more exist
without the crown than the crown without Parliament. The ancient
constitution had never been King and Parliament but King in
Parliament; when one element of that mystical union was destroyed,
the other ultimately perished."

Oliver Cromwell: Lord Protector of England (1599-1658)

There is definitely an association between John Knox and
Oliver Cromwell. Knox, in his book The Reformation of Scotland,
outlined the whole process without which the British model of
government under Oliver Cromwell never would not have been possible.
Yet Knox was more consistently covenantal in his thinking. He
recognized that civil government is based on a covenant between the
magistrate (or the representative or king) and the populace. His view
was that when the magistrate defects from the covenant, it is the
duty of the people to overthrow him.

Cromwell was not a learned scholar, as was Knox,
nevertheless God elevated him to a greater leadership role. Oliver
Cromwell was born into a common family of English country Puritans
having none of the advantages of upbringing that would prepare him to
be leader of a nation. Yet he had a God-given ability to earn the
loyalty and respect of men of genius who served him throughout his
lifetime. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress served under his
command in the English Civil War, and John Milton, who penned
Paradise Lost, served as his personal secretary.

Cromwell's early years were ordinary, but after a
conversion experience at age 27, he was seized by a sense of divine
destiny. He became suddenly zealous for God. He was a country squire,
a bronze-faced, callous-handed man of property. He worked on his
farm, prayed and fasted often and occasionally exhorted the local
congregation during church meetings. A quiet, simple, serious-minded
man, he spoke little. But when he broke his silence, it was with
great authority as he commanded obedience without question or
dispute. As a justice of the peace, he attracted attention to himself
by collaring loafers at a tavern and forcing them to join in singing
a hymn. This exploit together with quieting a disturbance among some
student factions at the neighboring town of Cambridge earned him the
respect of the Puritan locals and they sent him to Parliament as
their representative. There he attracted attention with his blunt,
forcible speech as a member of the Independent Party which was made
up of Puritans.

The English people were bent upon the establishment of a
democratic parliamentary system of civil government and the
elimination of the "Divine Right of Kings." King Charles I,
the tyrant who had long persecuted the English Puritans by having
their ears cut off and their noses slit for defying his attempts to
force episcopacy on their churches, finally clashed with Parliament
over a long ordeal with new and revolutionary ideas. The Puritans, or
"Roundheads" as they were called, finally led a civil war
against the King and his Cavaliers.

When he discerned the weaknesses of the Roundhead army,
Cromwell made himself captain of the cavalry. Cromwell had never been
trained in war, but from the very beginning he showed consummate
genius as a general. Cromwell understood that successful revolutions
were always fought by farmers so he gathered a thousand hand-picked
Puritans - farmers and herdsmen - who were used to the open fields.
His regiment was nicknamed "Ironsides" and was never beaten
once, although they fought greatly outnumbered - at times three to
one.

It was an army the likes of which hadn't been seen since
ancient Israel. They would recite the Westminster Confession and
march into battle singing the Psalms of David striking terror into
the heart of the enemy. Cromwell's tactic was to strike with the
cavalry through the advancing army at the center, go straight through
the lines and then circle to either the left or the right milling the
mass into a mob, creating confusion and utterly destroying them.
Cromwell amassed a body of troops and soon became commander-in-chief.
His discipline created the only body of regular troops on either side
who preached, prayed, paid fines for profanity and drunkenness, and
charged the enemy singing hymns - the strangest abnormality in an age
when every vice imaginable characterized soldiers and mercenaries.

In the meantime, Charles I invited an Irish Catholic
army to his aid, an action for which he was tried for high treason
and beheaded shortly after the war. After executing the national
sovereign, the Parliament assumed power. The success of the new
democracy in England was short-lived. Cromwell found that a
democratic parliamentary system run by squires and lords oppressed
the common people and was almost as corrupt as the rulership of the
deposed evil king. As Commander-in-Chief of the army, he was able to
seize rulership and served a term as "Lord Protector."

During the fifteen years in which Cromwell ruled, he
drove pirates from the Mediterranean Sea, set English captives free,
and subdued any threat from France, Spain and Italy. Cromwell made
Great Britain a respected and feared power the world over. Cromwell
maintained a large degree of tolerance for rival denominations. He
stood for a national church without bishops. The ministers might be
Presbyterian, Independent or Baptist. Dissenters were allowed to meet
in gathered churches and even Roman Catholics and Quakers were
tolerated. He worked for reform of morals and the improvement of
education. He strove constantly to make England a genuinely Christian
nation and she enjoyed a brief "Golden Age" in her history.

When Charles I was beheaded, the understanding was that
he had broken covenant with the people. The view of Cromwell and the
Puritans was that when the magistrate breaks covenant, then he may
legitimately be deposed. The Puritan understanding of the covenantal
nature of government was the foundation for American colonial
government. This was true of Massachusetts and Connecticut and to a
lesser extent in the Southern colonies. When the Mayflower Compact
was written, the Pilgrims had a covenantal idea of the nature of
civil government. This was a foundation for later colonies
established throughout the 1600s. These covenants were influenced by
what Knox had done in Scotland and what the Puritans had done in
England.

RICHARD CROMWELL (1658-1659)

The
eldest surviving son of Oliver Cromwell, Richard was Lord Protector
of England from September 1658 to May 1659, but failed in his efforts
to lead the Commonwealth.

Richard served in the Parliaments of 1654 and 1656 and
some government posts, but showed little of his father's ability.
Constitutional changes in 1657 allowed Cromwell to choose his
successor. He began to prepare Richard, appointing him to the council
of state and the House of Lords.

He was proclaimed Lord Protector immediately after his
father's death, on 3rd September 1658. Unfortunately, the
Commonwealth had been held together by his father and Richard was no
Oliver. It was an unstable mixture of zealous reform and a yearning
for stability, Parliamentary authority and military power.

Richard soon faced serious problems. The army were
disillusioned with a government that had grown increasingly
ceremonious. They grew more restless when Richard appointed himself
commander in chief. A new Parliament was elected in 1659 but a vacuum
of power prompted the army council to seize power. In April 1659 it
forced Richard to dissolve Parliament.

The officers now recalled the Rump Parliament, dissolved
by Oliver Cromwell in 1653. It dismissed Richard as Lord Protector;
he officially abdicated in May. Yet the Rump was incapable of
governing without financial and military support and the army itself
remained bitterly divided. George Monck, one of the army's most
capable officers, marched south from Scotland to protect Parliament
but, on arriving in London, realised that only the restoration of
Charles II could put an end to the political chaos that now gripped
the state.

Richard, having amassed large debts during his time in
office, left for Paris in 1660 to escape his creditors, living under
the name of John Clarke. After living in Geneva, he returned to
England in around 1680, where he lived quietly until his death.

CHARLES
II (1660-85)

Although those who had signed Charles I's death warrant
were punished (nine regicides were put to death, and Cromwell's body
was exhumed from Westminster Abbey and buried in a common pit),
Charles pursued a policy of political tolerance and power-sharing. In
April 1660, fresh elections had been held and a Convention met with
the House of Lords. Parliament invited Charles to return, and he
arrived at Dover on 25 May.

Despite the bitterness left from the Civil Wars and
Charles I's execution, there were few detailed negotiations over the
conditions of Charles II's restoration to the throne. Under the
Declaration of Breda of May 1660, Charles had promised pardons,
arrears of Army pay, confirmation of land purchases during the
Interregnum and 'liberty of tender consciences' in religious matters,
but several issues remained unresolved. However, the Militia Act of
1661 vested control of the armed forces in the Crown, and Parliament
agreed to an annual revenue of £1,200,000 (a persistent deficit of
£400,000-500,000 remained, leading to difficulties for Charles in
his foreign policy). The bishops were restored to their seats in the
House of Lords, and the Triennial Act of 1641 was repealed - there
was no mechanism for enforcing the King's obligation to call
Parliament at least once every three years. Under the 1660 Act of
Indemnity and Oblivion, only the lands of the Crown and the Church
were automatically resumed; the lands of Royalists and other
dissenters which had been confiscated and/or sold on were left for
private negotiation or litigation.

The early years of Charles's reign saw an appalling
plague which hit the country in 1665 with 70,000 dying in London
alone, and the Great Fire of London in 1666 which destroyed St Paul's
amongst other buildings. Another misfortune included the second Dutch
war of 1665 (born of English and Dutch commercial and colonial
rivalry). Although the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam was overrun
and renamed New York before the war started, by 1666 France and
Denmark had allied with the Dutch. The war was dogged by poor
administration culminating in a Dutch attack on the Thames in 1667; a
peace was negotiated later in the year.

In 1667, Charles dismissed his Lord Chancellor,
Clarendon - an adviser from Charles's days of exile (Clarendon's
daughter Anne was the first wife of Charles's brother James and was
mother of Queens Mary and Anne). As a scapegoat for the difficult
religious settlement and the Dutch war, Clarendon had failed to build
a 'Court interest' in the Commons. He was succeeded by a series of
ministerial combinations, the first of which was that of Clifford,
Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington and Lauderdale (whose initials formed
the nickname Cabal). Such combinations (except for Danby's dominance
of Parliament from 1673 to 1679) were largely kept in balance by
Charles for the rest of his reign.

Charles's foreign policy was a wavering balance of
alliances with France and the Dutch in turn. In 1670, Charles signed
the secret treaty of Dover under which Charles would declare himself
a Catholic and England would side with France against the Dutch - in
return Charles would receive subsidies from the King of France (thus
enabling Charles some limited room for manoeuvre with Parliament, but
leaving the possibility of public disclosure of the treaty by Louis).
Practical considerations prevented such a public conversion, but
Charles issued a Declaration of Indulgence, using his prerogative
powers to suspend the penal laws against Catholics and
Nonconformists. In the face of an Anglican Parliament's opposition,
Charles was eventually forced to withdraw the Declaration in 1673.

In 1677 Charles married his niece Mary to William of
Orange partly to restore the balance after his brother's second
marriage to the Catholic Mary of Modena and to re-establish his own
Protestant credentials. This assumed a greater importance as it
became clear that Charles's marriage to Catherine of Braganza would
produce no legitimate heirs (although Charles had a number of
mistresses and illegitimate children), and his Roman Catholic brother
James's position as heir apparent raised the prospect of a Catholic
king.

Throughout Charles's reign, religious toleration
dominated the political scene. The 1662 Act of Uniformity had imposed
the use of the Book of Common Prayer, and insisted that clergy
subscribe to Anglican doctrine (some 1,000 clergy lost their
livings). Anti-Catholicism was widespread; the Test Act of 1673
excluded Roman Catholics from both Houses of Parliament. Parliament's
reaction to the Popish Plot of 1678 (an allegation by Titus Oates
that Jesuit priests were conspiring to murder the King, and involving
the Queen and the Lord Treasurer, Danby) was to impeach Danby and
present a Bill to exclude James (Charles's younger brother and a
Roman Catholic convert) from the succession. In 1680/81 Charles
dissolved three Parliaments which had all tried to introduce
Exclusion Bills on the basis that 'we are not like to have a good
end'.

Charles sponsored the founding of the Royal Society in
1660 (still in existence today) to promote scientific research.
Charles also encouraged a rebuilding programme, particularly in the
last years of his reign, which included extensive rebuilding at
Windsor Castle, a huge but uncompleted new palace at Winchester and
the Greenwich Observatory. Charles was a patron of Christopher Wren
in the design and rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral, Chelsea Hospital
(a refuge for old war veterans) and other London buildings.

Charles died in 1685, becoming a Roman Catholic on his
deathbed.

JAMES
II (1685-88)

Born
in 1633 and named after his grandfather James I, James II grew up in
exile after the Civil War (he served in the armies of Louis XIV) and,
after his brother's restoration, commanded the Royal Navy from 1660
to 1673. James converted to Catholicism in 1669. Despite his
conversion, James II succeeded to the throne peacefully at the age of
51. His position was a strong one - there were standing armies of
nearly 20,000 men in his kingdoms and he had a revenue of around £2
million. Within days of his succession, James announced the summoning
of Parliament in May but he sounded a warning note: 'the best way to
engage me to meet you often is always to use me well'. A rebellion
led by Charles's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, was easily
crushed after the battle of Sedgemoor in 1685, and savage punishments
were imposed by the infamous Lord Chief Justice, Judge Jeffreys, at
the 'Bloody Assizes'.

James's reaction to the Monmouth rebellion was to plan
the increase of the standing army and the appointment of loyal and
experienced Roman Catholic officers. This, together with James's
attempts to give civic equality to Roman Catholic and Protestant
dissenters, led to conflict with Parliament, as it was seen as James
showing favouritism towards Roman Catholics. Fear of Catholicism was
widespread (in 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes which gave
protection to French Protestants), and the possibility of a standing
army led by Roman Catholic officers produced protest in Parliament.
As a result, James prorogued Parliament in 1685 and ruled without it.

James attempted to promote the Roman Catholic cause by
dismissing judges and Lord Lieutenants who refused to support the
withdrawal of laws penalising religious dissidents, appointing
Catholics to important academic posts, and to senior military and
political positions. Within three years, the majority of James's
subjects had been alienated.

In 1687 James issued the Declaration of Indulgence
aiming at religious toleration; seven bishops who asked James to
reconsider were charged with seditious libel, but later acquitted to
popular Anglican acclaim. When his second (Roman Catholic) wife, Mary
of Modena, gave birth on 10 June 1688 to a son (James Stuart, later
known as the 'Old Pretender' and father of Charles Edward Stuart,
'Bonnie Prince Charlie'), it seemed that a Roman Catholic dynasty
would be established. William of Orange, Protestant husband of
James's elder daughter, Mary (by James's first and Protestant wife,
Anne Hyde), was therefore welcomed when he invaded on 5 November
1688. The Army and the Navy (disaffected despite James's investment
in them) deserted to William, and James fled to France.

James's attempt to regain the throne by taking a French
army to Ireland failed - he was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne
in 1690. James spent the rest of his life in exile in France, dying
there in 1701.

WILLIAM
III (1689-1702) AND MARY II (1689-94)

In 1689 Parliament declared that
James had abdicated by deserting his kingdom. William (reigned
1689-1702) and Mary (reigned 1689-94) were offered the
throne as joint monarchs. They accepted a Declaration of Rights
(later a Bill), drawn up by a Convention of Parliament, which limited
the Sovereign's power, reaffirmed Parliament's claim to control
taxation and legislation, and provided guarantees against the abuses
of power which James II and the other Stuart Kings had committed. The
exclusion of James II and his heirs was extended to exclude all
Catholics from the throne, since 'it hath been found by experience
that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of
this protestant kingdom to be governed by a papist prince'. The
Sovereign was required in his coronation oath to swear to maintain
the Protestant religion.

The Bill was designed to ensure Parliament could
function free from royal interference. The Sovereign was forbidden
from suspending or dispensing with laws passed by Parliament, or
imposing taxes without Parliamentary consent. The Sovereign was not
allowed to interfere with elections or freedom of speech, and
proceedings in Parliament were not to be questioned in the courts or
in any body outside Parliament itself. (This was the basis of modern
parliamentary privilege.) The Sovereign was required to summon
Parliament frequently (the Triennial Act of 1694 reinforced this by
requiring the regular summoning of Parliaments). Parliament tightened
control over the King's expenditure; the financial settlement reached
with William and Mary deliberately made them dependent upon
Parliament, as one Member of Parliament said, 'when princes have not
needed money they have not needed us'. Finally the King was forbidden
to maintain a standing army in time of peace without Parliament's
consent.

The Bill of Rights added further defences of individual
rights. The King was forbidden to establish his own courts or to act
as a judge himself, and the courts were forbidden to impose excessive
bail or fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. However, the
Sovereign could still summon and dissolve Parliament, appoint and
dismiss Ministers, veto legislation and declare war.

The so-called 'Glorious Revolution' has been much
debated over the degree to which it was conservative or radical in
character. The result was a permanent shift in power; although the
monarchy remained of central importance, Parliament had become a
permanent feature of political life.

The Toleration Act of 1689 gave all non-conformists
except Roman Catholics freedom of worship, thus rewarding Protestant
dissenters for their refusal to side with James II.

After 1688 there was a rapid development of party, as
parliamentary sessions lengthened and the Triennial Act ensured
frequent general elections. Although the Tories had fully supported
the Revolution, it was the Whigs (traditional critics of the
monarchy) who supported William and consolidated their position.
Recognising the advisability of selecting a Ministry from the
political party with the majority in the House of Commons, William
appointed a Ministry in 1696 which was drawn from the Whigs; known as
the Junto, it was regarded with suspicion by Members of Parliament as
it met separately, but it may be regarded as the forerunner of the
modern Cabinet of Ministers.

In 1697, Parliament decided to give an annual grant of
£700,000 to the King for life, as a contribution to the expenses of
civil government, which included judges' and ambassadors' salaries,
as well as the Royal Household's expenses.

The Bill of Rights had established the succession with
the heirs of Mary II, Anne and William III in that order, but by 1700
Mary had died childless, Anne's only surviving child (out of 17
children), the Duke of Gloucester, had died at the age of 11 and
William was dying. The succession had to be decided.

The Act of Settlement of 1701 was designed to secure the
Protestant succession to the throne, and to strengthen the guarantees
for ensuring parliamentary system of government. According to the
Act, succession to the throne went to Princess Sophia, Electress of
Hanover and James I's granddaughter, and her Protestant heirs.

The Act also laid down the conditions under which alone
the Crown could be held. No Roman Catholic, nor anyone married to a
Roman Catholic, could hold the English Crown. The Sovereign now had
to swear to maintain the Church of England (and after 1707, the
Church of Scotland). The Act of Settlement not only addressed the
dynastic and religious aspects of succession, it also further
restricted the powers and prerogatives of the Crown.

Under the Act, parliamentary consent had to be given for
the Sovereign to engage in war or leave the country, and judges were
to hold office on good conduct and not at royal pleasure - thus
establishing judicial independence. The Act of Settlement reinforced
the Bill of Rights, in that it strengthened the principle that
government was undertaken by the Sovereign and his or her
constitutional advisers (i.e. his or her Ministers), not by the
Sovereign and any personal advisers whom he or she happened to
choose.

One of William's main reasons for accepting the throne
was to reinforce the struggle against Louis XIV. William's foreign
policy was dominated by the priority to contain French expansionism.
England and the Dutch joined the coalition against France during the
Nine Years War. Although Louis was forced to recognise William as
King under the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), William's policy of
intervention in Europe was costly in terms of finance and his
popularity. The Bank of England, established in 1694 to raise money
for the war by borrowing, did not loosen the King's financial
reliance on Parliament as the national debt depended on parliamentary
guarantees. William's Dutch advisers were resented, and in 1699 his
Dutch Blue Guards were forced to leave the country.

Never of robust health, William died as a result of
complications from a fall whilst riding at Hampton Court in 1702.

ANNE (1702-14)

Anne,
born in 1665, was the second daughter of James II and Anne Hyde. She
played no part in her father's reign, but sided with her sister and
brother-in-law (Mary II and William III) during the Glorious
Revolution. She married George, Prince of Denmark, but the pair
failed to produce a surviving heir. She died at 49 years of age,
after a lifelong battle with the blood disease porphyria.

The untimely death of William III nullified, in effect,
the Settlement Act of 1701: Anne was James' daughter through his
Protestant marriage, and therefore, presented no conflict with the
act. Anne refrained from politically antagonizing Parliament, but was
compelled to attend most Cabinet meetings to keep her half-brother,
James the Old Pretender, under heel. Anne was the last sovereign to
veto an act of Parliament, as well as the final Stuart monarch. The
most significant constitutional act in her reign was the Act of Union
in 1707, which created Great Britain by finally fully uniting England
and Scotland (Ireland joined the Union in 1801).

The Stuart trait of relying on favorites was as
pronounced in Anne's reign as it had been in James I's reign. Anne's
closest confidant was Sarah Churchill, who exerted great influence
over the king. Sarah's husband was the Duke of Marlborough, who
masterly led the English to several victories in the War of Spanish
Succession. Anne and Sarah were virtually inseparable: no king's
mistress had ever wielded the power granted to the duchess, but Sarah
became too confident in her position. She developed an overbearing
demeanor towards Anne, and berated the Queen in public. In the
meantime, Tory leaders had planted one Abigail Hill in the royal
household to capture Anne's need for sympathy and affection. As Anne
increasingly turned to Abigail, the question of succession rose
again, pitting the Queen and the Marlborough against each other in a
heated debate. The relationship of Anne and the Churchill's fell
asunder. Marlborough, despite his war record, was dismissed from
public service and Sarah was shunned in favor of Abigail.

Many of the internal conflicts in English society were
simply the birth pains of the two-party system of government. The
Whig and Tory Parties, fully enfranchised by the last years of Anne's
reign, fought for control of Parliament and influence over the Queen.
Anne was torn personally as well as politically by the succession
question: her Stuart upbringing compelled her to choose as heir her
half-brother, the Old Pretender and favorite of the Tories, but she
had already elected to side with Whigs when supporting Mary and
William over James II. In the end, Anne abided by the Act of
Settlement, and the Whigs paved the way for the succession of their
candidate, George of Hanover.

Anne's reign may be considered successful, but somewhat
lackluster in comparison to the rest of the Stuart line. 1066 and All
That, describes her with its usual tongue-in-cheek manner: "Finally
the Orange... was succeeded by the memorable dead queen, Anne. Queen
Anne was considered rather a remarkable woman and hence was usually
referred to as Great Anna, or Annus Mirabilis. The Queen had many
favourites (all women), the most memorable of whom were Sarah Jenkins
and Mrs Smashems, who were the first wig and the first Tory... the
Whigs being the first to realize that the Queen had been dead all the
time chose George I as King."

THE HANOVERIANS

The Hanoverians came to power in difficult circumstances
that looked set to undermine the stability of British society. The
first of their Kings, George I, was only 52nd in line to the throne,
but the nearest Protestant according the Act of Settlement. Two
descendants of James II, the deposed Stuart King, threatened to take
the throne and were supported by a number of 'Jacobites' throughout
the realm.

The Hanoverian period for all that, was remarkably
stable, not least because of the longevity of its Kings. From 1714
through to 1837, there were only five, one of whom, George III,
remains the longest reigning King in British History. The period was
also one of political stability, and the development of
constitutional monarchy. For vast tracts of the eighteenth century
politics were dominated by the great Whig families, while the early
nineteenth century saw Tory domination. Britain's first 'Prime'
Minister, Robert Walpole, dates from this period, while income tax
was introduced. Towards the end of the reign, the Great Reform Act
was passed, which amongst other things widened the electorate.

It was in this period that Britain came to acquire much
of her overseas Empire, despite the loss of the American colonies,
largely through foreign conquest in the various wars of the century.
At the end of the Hanoverian period the British empire covered a
third of the globe while the theme of longevity was set to continue,
as the longest reigning monarch in British history, Queen Victoria,
prepared to take the throne.

THE
HANOVERIANS

1714
- 1837

GEORGE
I =
Sophia Dorothea, dau. of Duke of Brunswick and Celle

(1714–1727)

GEORGE
II =
Caroline, dau. of Margrave of

(1727–1760)
Brandenburg-Anspach

Augusta
of = Frederick Lewis,

Saxe-Gotha-Altenberg
Prince of Wales

GEORGE
III =
Sophia Charlotte of

(1760–1820)
Mecklenburg-Strelitz

GEORGE
IV WILLIAM IV
Edward,
= Victoria

(1820–1830)
(1830–1837)
Duke of Kent of
Saxe-Coburg

VICTORIA

(1837–1901)

GEORGE
I (1714-27)

George I was born March 28, 1660, son of Ernest, Elector
of Hanover and Sophia, granddaughter of James I. He was raised in the
royal court of Hanover, a German province, and married Sophia,
Princess of Zelle, in 1682. The marriage produced one son (the future
George II) and one daughter (Sophia Dorothea, who married her cousin,
Frederick William I, King of Prussia). After ruling England for
thirteen years, George I died of a stroke on a journey to his beloved
Hanover on October 11, 1727.

George, Elector of Hanover since 1698, ascended the
throne upon the death of Queen Anne, under the terms of the 1701 Act
of Settlement. His mother had recently died and he meticulously
settled his affairs in Hanover before coming to England. He realized
his position and considered the better of two evils to be the Whigs
(the other alternative was the Catholic son of James II by Mary of
Modena, James Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender). George knew that any
decision was bound to offend at least half of the British population.
His character and mannerisms were strictly German; he never troubled
himself to learn the English language, and spent at least half of his
time in Hanover.

The pale little 54 year-old man arrived in Greenwich on
September 29, 1714, with a full retinue of German friends, advisors
and servants (two of which, Mohamet and Mustapha, were Negroes
captured during a Turkish campaign). All were determined to profit
from the venture, with George leading the way. He also arrived with
two mistresses and no wife - Sophia had been imprisoned for adultery.
The English population was unkind to the two mistresses, labeling the
tall, thin Ehrengard Melusina von Schulenberg as the "maypole",
and the short, fat Charlotte Sophia Kielmansegge as the "elephant".
Thackeray remarked, "Take what you can get was the old monarch's
maxim... The German women plundered, the German secretaries
plundered, the German cooks and attendants plundered, even Mustapha
and Mohamet... had a share in the booty."

The Jacobites, legitimist Tories, attempted to depose
George and replace him with the Old Pretender in 1715. The rebellion
was a dismal failure. The Old Pretender failed to arrive in Britain
until it was over and French backing evaporated with the death of
Louis XIV. After the rebellion, England settled into a much needed
time of peace, with internal politics and foreign affairs coming to
the fore.

George's ignorance of the English language and customs
actually became the cornerstone of his style of rule: leave England
to it's own devices and live in Hanover as much as possible. Cabinet
positions became of the utmost importance; the king's ministers
represented the executive branch of government, while Parliament
represented the legislative. George's frequent absences required the
creation of the post of Prime Minister, the majority leader in the
House of Commons who acted in the king's stead. The first was Robert
Walpole, whose political mettle was tried in 1720 with the South Sea
Company debacle. The South Sea Company was a highly speculative
venture (one of many that was currently plaguing British economics at
that time), whose investors cajoled government participation. Walpole
resisted from the beginning, and after the venture collapsed and
thousands were financially ruined, he worked feverishly to restore
public credit and confidence in George's government. His success put
him in the position of dominating British politics for the next 20
years, and the reliance on an executive Cabinet marked an important
step in the formation of a modern constitutional monarchy in England.

George avoided entering European conflicts by
establishing a complex web of continental alliances. He and his Whig
ministers were quite skillful; the realm managed to stay out of war
until George II declared war on Spain in 1739. George I and his son,
George II, literally hated each other, a fact that the Tory party
used to gain political strength. George I, on his many trips to
Hanover, never placed the leadership of government in his son's
hands, preferring to rely on his ministers when he was abroad. This
disdain between father and son was a blight which became a tradition
in the House of Hanover.

Thackeray, in The
Four Georges,
allows both a glimpse of George I's character, and the circumstances
under which he ruled England: "Though a despot in Hanover, he
was a moderate ruler in England. His aim was to leave it to itself as
much as possible, and to live out of it as much as he could. His
heart was in Hanover. He was more than fifty-four years of age when
he came amongst us: we took him because we wanted him, because he
served our turn; we laughed at his uncouth German ways, and sneered
at him. He took our loyalty for what it was worth; laid hands on what
money he could; kept us assuredly from Popery and wooden shoes. I,
for one, would have been on his side in those days. Cynical, and
selfish, as he was, he was better than a king out of St. Germains
[the Old Pretender] with a French King's orders in his pocket, and a
swarm of Jesuits in his train."

GEORGE II (1727-60)

George
II was born November 10, 1683, the only son of George I and Sophia.
His youth was spent in the Hanoverian court in Germany, and he
married Caroline of Anspach in 1705. He was truly devoted to
Caroline; she bore him three sons and five daughters, and actively
participated in government affairs, before she died in 1737. Like his
father, George was very much a German prince, but at the age of 30
when George I ascended the throne, he was young enough to absorb the
English culture that escaped his father. George II died of a stroke
on October 25, 1760.

George possessed three passions: the army, music and his
wife. He was exceptionally brave and has the distinction of being the
last British sovereign to command troops in the field (at Dettingen
against the French in 1743). He inherited his father's love of opera,
particularly the work of George Frederick Handel, who had been George
I's court musician in Hanover. Caroline proved to be his greatest
asset. She revived traditional court life (which had all but vanished
under George I, was fiercely intelligent and an ardent supporter of
Robert Walpole. Walpole continued in the role of Prime Minister at
Caroline's behest, as George was loathe keeping his father's head
Cabinet member. The hatred George felt towards his father was
reciprocated by his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died in
1751.

Walpole retired in 1742, after establishing the
foundation of the modern constitutional monarchy: a Cabinet
responsible to a Parliament, which was, in turn, responsible to an
electorate. At that time, the system was far from truly democratic;
the electorate was essentially the voice of wealthy landowners and
mercantilists. The Whig party was firmly in control, although
legitimist Tories attempted one last Jacobite rebellion in 1745, by
again trying to restore a Stuart to the throne. Prince Charles Edward
Stuart, known as the Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie, landed
in Scotland and marched as far south as Derby, causing yet another
wave of Anti-Catholicism to wash over England. The Scots retreated,
and in 1746, were butchered by the Royal Army at Culloden Moor.
Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped to France and died in Rome. The Tories
became suspect due to their associations with Jacobitism, ensuring
oligarchic Whig rule for the following fifty years.

Walpole managed to keep George out of continental
conflicts for the first twelve years of the reign, but George
declared war on Spain in 1739, against Walpole's wishes. The Spanish
war extended into the 1740's as a component of the War of Austrian
Succession, in which England fought against French dominance in
Europe. George shrank away from the situation quickly: he negotiated
a hasty peace with France, to protect Hanover. The 1750's found
England again at war with France, this time over imperial claims.
Fighting was intense in Europe, but North America and India were also
theatres of the war. Government faltering in response to the French
crisis brought William Pitt the Elder, later Earl of Chatham, to the
forefront of British politics.

Thackeray describes George II and
Walpole as such, in The
Four Georges "...
how he was a choleric little sovereign; how he shook his fist in the
face of his father's courtiers; how he kicked his coat and wig about
in his rages; and called everybody thief, liar, rascal with whom he
differed: you will read in all the history books; and how he speedily
and shrewdly reconciled himself with the bold minister, whom he had
hated during his father's life, and by whom he was served during
fifteen years of his own with admirable prudence, fidelity, and
success. But for Robert Walpole, we should have had the Pretender
back again."

GEORGE
III (r. 1760-1820)

George III was born on 4 June 1738 in London, the eldest
son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of
Saxe-Gotha. He became heir to the throne on the death of his father
in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the
third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and
to use English as his first language.

George III is widely remembered for two things: losing
the American colonies and going mad. This is far from the whole
truth. George's direct responsibility for the loss of the colonies is
not great. He opposed their bid for independence to the end, but he
did not develop the policies (such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the
Townshend duties of 1767 on tea, paper and other products) which led
to war in 1775-76 and which had the support of Parliament. These
policies were largely due to the financial burdens of garrisoning and
administering the vast expansion of territory brought under the
British Crown in America, the costs of a series of wars with France
and Spain in North America, and the loans given to the East India
Company (then responsible for administering India). By the 1770s, and
at a time when there was no income tax, the national debt required an
annual revenue of £4 million to service it.

The declaration of American independence on 4 July 1776,
the end of the war with the surrender by British forces in 1782, and
the defeat which the loss of the American colonies represented, could
have threatened the Hanoverian throne. However, George's strong
defence of what he saw as the national interest and the prospect of
long war with revolutionary France made him, if anything, more
popular than before.

The American war, its political aftermath and family
anxieties placed great strain on George in the 1780s. After serious
bouts of illness in 1788-89 and again in 1801, George became
permanently deranged in 1810. He was mentally unfit to rule in the
last decade of his reign; his eldest son - the later George IV -
acted as Prince Regent from 1811. Some medical historians have said
that George III's mental instability was caused by a hereditary
physical disorder called porphyria.

George's accession in 1760 marked a significant change
in royal finances. Since 1697, the monarch had received an annual
grant of £700,000 from Parliament as a contribution to the Civil
List, i.e. civil government costs (such as judges' and ambassadors'
salaries) and the expenses of the Royal Household. In 1760, it was
decided that the whole cost of the Civil List should be provided by
Parliament in return for the surrender of the hereditary revenues by
the King for the duration of his reign. (This arrangement still
applies today, although civil government costs are now paid by
Parliament, rather than financed directly by the monarch from the
Civil List.)

The first 25 years of George's reign were politically
controversial for reasons other than the conflict with America. The
King was accused by some critics, particularly Whigs (a leading
political grouping), of attempting to reassert royal authority in an
unconstitutional manner. In fact, George took a conventional view of
the constitution and the powers left to the Crown after the conflicts
between Crown and Parliament in the 17th century.

Although he was careful not to exceed his powers,
George's limited ability and lack of subtlety in dealing with the
shifting alliances within the Tory and Whig political groupings in
Parliament meant that he found it difficult to bring together
ministries which could enjoy the support of the House of Commons. His
problem was solved first by the long-lasting ministry of Lord North
(1770-82) and then, from 1783, by Pitt the Younger, whose ministry
lasted until 1801.

George III was the most attractive of the Hanoverian
monarchs. He was a good family man (there were 15 children) and
devoted to his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom he
bought the Queen's House (later enlarged to become Buckingham
Palace). However, his sons disappointed him and, after his brothers
made unsuitable secret marriages, the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 was
passed at George's insistence. (Under this Act, the Sovereign must
give consent to the marriage of any lineal descendant of George II,
with certain exceptions.)

Being extremely conscientious, George read all
government papers and sometimes annoyed his ministers by taking such
a prominent interest in government and policy. His political
influence could be decisive. In 1801, he forced Pitt the Younger to
resign when the two men disagreed about whether Roman Catholics
should have full civil rights. George III, because of his coronation
oath to maintain the rights and privileges of the Church of England,
was against the proposed measure.

One of the most cultured of monarchs, George started a
new royal collection of books (65,000 of his books were later given
to the British Museum, as the nucleus of a national library) and
opened his library to scholars. In 1768, George founded and paid the
initial costs of the Royal Academy of Arts (now famous for its
exhibitions). He was the first king to study science as part of his
education (he had his own astronomical observatory), and examples of
his collection of scientific instruments can now be seen in the
Science Museum.

George III also took a keen interest in agriculture,
particularly on the crown estates at Richmond and Windsor, being
known as 'Farmer George'. In his last years, physical as well as
mental powers deserted him and he became blind. He died at Windsor
Castle on 29 January 1820, after a reign of almost 60 years - the
second longest in British history.

GEORGE
IV (1820-30)

George
IV was 48 when he became Regent in 1811. He had secretly and
illegally married a Roman Catholic, Mrs Fitzherbert. In 1795 he
officially married Princess Caroline of Brunswick, but the marriage
was a failure and he tried unsuccessfully to divorce her after his
accession in 1820 (Caroline died in 1821). Their only child Princess
Charlotte died giving birth to a stillborn child.

An outstanding, if extravagant, collector and builder,
George IV acquired many important works of art (now in the Royal
Collection), built the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, and transformed
Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. George's fondness for pageantry
helped to develop the ceremonial side of monarchy. After his father's
long illness, George resumed royal visits; he visited Hanover in 1821
(it had not been visited by its ruler since the 1750s), and Ireland
and Scotland over the next couple of years.

Beset by debts, George was in a weak position in
relation to his Cabinet of ministers. His concern for royal
prerogative was sporadic; when the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool fell
ill in 1827, George at one stage suggested that ministers should
choose Liverpool's successor. In 1829, George IV was forced by his
ministers, much against his will and his interpretation of his
coronation oath, to agree to Catholic Emancipation. By reducing
religious discrimination, this emancipation enabled the monarchy to
play a more national role.

George's profligacy and marriage difficulties meant that
he never regained much popularity, and he spent his final years in
seclusion at Windsor, dying at the age of 67.

WILLIAM
IV (1830-37)

At
the age of 13, William became a midshipman and began a career in the
Royal Navy. In 1789, he was made duke of Clarence. He retired from
the Navy in 1790. Between 1791 and 1811 he lived with his mistress,
the actress Mrs Jordan, and the growing family of their children
known as the Fitzclarences. William married Princess Adelaide of
Saxe-Meiningen in 1818, but their children died in infancy. The third
son of George III, William became heir apparent at the age of 62 when
his older brother died.

William's reign (reigned 1830-37) was dominated by the
Reform crisis, beginning almost immediately when Wellington's Tory
government (which William supported) lost the general election in
August 1830. Pledged to parliamentary reform, Grey's Whig government
won a further election which William had to call in 1831 and then
pushed through a reform bill against the opposition of the Tories and
the House of Lords, using the threat of the creation of 50 or more
peers to do so. The failure of the Tories to form an alternative
government in 1832 meant that William had to sign the Great Reform
Bill. Control of peerages had been used as a party weapon, and the
royal prerogative had been damaged.

The Reform Bill abolished some of the worst abuses of
the electoral system (for example, representation for so called
'rotten boroughs', which had long ceased to be of any importance, was
stopped, and new industrial towns obtained representation). The
Reform Act also introduced standardised rules for the franchise
(different boroughs had previously had varying franchise rules) and,
by extending the franchise to the middle classes, greatly increased
the role of public opinion in the political process.

William understood the theory of the more limited
monarchy, once saying 'I have my view of things, and I tell them to
my ministers. If they do not adopt them, I cannot help it. I have
done my duty.' William died a month after Victoria had come of age,
thus avoiding another regency.

VICTORIA
(1837-1901)

Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, on 24
May 1819. She was the only daughter of Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth
son of George III. Her father died shortly after her birth and she
became heir to the throne because the three uncles who were ahead of
her in succession - George IV, Frederick Duke of York, and William IV
- had no legitimate children who survived. Warmhearted and lively,
Victoria had a gift for drawing and painting; educated by a governess
at home, she was a natural diarist and kept a regular journal
throughout her life. On William IV's death in 1837, she became Queen
at the age of 18.

Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great age of
industrial expansion, economic progress and - especially - empire. At
her death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the
sun never set.

In the early part of her reign, she was influenced by
two men: her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and her husband,
Prince Albert, whom she married in 1840. Both men taught her much
about how to be a ruler in a 'constitutional monarchy' where the
monarch had very few powers but could use much influence. Albert took
an active interest in the arts, science, trade and industry; the
project for which he is best remembered was the Great Exhibition of
1851, the profits from which helped to establish the South Kensington
museums complex in London.

Her marriage to Prince Albert brought nine children
between 1840 and 1857. Most of her children married into other royal
families of Europe: Edward VII (born 1841, married Alexandra,
daughter of Christian IX of Denmark); Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and
of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born 1844, married Marie of Russia);
Arthur, Duke of Connaught (born 1850, married Louise Margaret of
Prussia); Leopold, Duke of Albany (born 1853, married Helen of
Waldeck-Pyrmont); Victoria, Princess Royal (born 1840, married
Friedrich III, German Emperor); Alice (born 1843, married Ludwig IV,
Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine); Helena (born 1846, married
Christian of Schleswig-Holstein); Louise (born 1848, married John
Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll); Beatrice (born 1857, married Henry of
Battenberg). Victoria bought Osborne House (later presented to the
nation by Edward VII) on the Isle of Wight as a family home in 1845,
and Albert bought Balmoral in 1852.

Victoria was deeply attached to her husband and she sank
into depression after he died, aged 42, in 1861. She had lost a
devoted husband and her principal trusted adviser in affairs of
state. For the rest of her reign she wore black. Until the late 1860s
she rarely appeared in public; although she never neglected her
official Correspondence, and continued to give audiences to her
ministers and official visitors, she was reluctant to resume a full
public life. She was persuaded to open Parliament in person in 1866
and 1867, but she was widely criticised for living in seclusion and
quite a strong republican movement developed. (Seven attempts were
made on Victoria's life, between 1840 and 1882 - her courageous
attitude towards these attacks greatly strengthened her popularity.)
With time, the private urgings of her family and the flattering
attention of Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister in 1868 and from 1874
to 1880, the Queen gradually resumed her public duties.

In foreign policy, the Queen's influence during the
middle years of her reign was generally used to support peace and
reconciliation. In 1864, Victoria pressed her ministers not to
intervene in the Prussia-Austria-Denmark war, and her letter to the
German Emperor (whose son had married her daughter) in 1875 helped to
avert a second Franco-German war. On the Eastern Question in the
1870s - the issue of Britain's policy towards the declining Turkish
Empire in Europe - Victoria (unlike Gladstone) believed that Britain,
while pressing for necessary reforms, ought to uphold Turkish
hegemony as a bulwark of stability against Russia, and maintain
bi-partisanship at a time when Britain could be involved in war.

Victoria's popularity grew with the increasing imperial
sentiment from the 1870s onwards. After the Indian Mutiny of 1857,
the government of India was transferred from the East India Company
to the Crown with the position of Governor General upgraded to
Viceroy, and in 1877 Victoria became Empress of India under the Royal
Titles Act passed by Disraeli's government.

During Victoria's long reign, direct political power
moved away from the sovereign. A series of Acts broadened the social
and economic base of the electorate. These acts included the Second
Reform Act of 1867; the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872,
which made it impossible to pressurise voters by bribery or
intimidation; and the Representation of the Peoples Act of 1884 - all
householders and lodgers in accommodation worth at least £10 a year,
and occupiers of land worth £10 a year, were entitled to vote.

Despite this decline in the Sovereign's power, Victoria
showed that a monarch who had a high level of prestige and who was
prepared to master the details of political life could exert an
important influence. This was demonstrated by her mediation between
the Commons and the Lords, during the acrimonious passing of the
Irish Church Disestablishment Act of 1869 and the 1884 Reform Act. It
was during Victoria's reign that the modern idea of the
constitutional monarch, whose role was to remain above political
parties, began to evolve. But Victoria herself was not always
non-partisan and she took the opportunity to give her opinions -
sometimes very forcefully - in private.

After the Second Reform Act of 1867, and the growth of
the two-party (Liberal and Conservative) system, the Queen's room for
manoeuvre decreased. Her freedom to choose which individual should
occupy the premiership was increasingly restricted. In 1880, she
tried, unsuccessfully, to stop William Gladstone - whom she disliked
as much as she admired Disraeli and whose policies she distrusted -
from becoming Prime Minister. She much preferred the Marquess of
Hartington, another statesman from the Liberal party which had just
won the general election. She did not get her way. She was a very
strong supporter of Empire, which brought her closer both to Disraeli
and to the Marquess of Salisbury, her last Prime Minister. Although
conservative in some respects - like many at the time she opposed
giving women the vote - on social issues, she tended to favour
measures to improve the lot of the poor, such as the Royal Commission
on housing. She also supported many charities involved in education,
hospitals and other areas.

Victoria and her family travelled and were seen on an
unprecedented scale, thanks to transport improvements and other
technical changes such as the spread of newspapers and the invention
of photography. Victoria was the first reigning monarch to use trains
- she made her first train journey in 1842.

In her later years, she almost became the symbol of the
British Empire. Both the Golden (1887) and the Diamond (1897)
Jubilees, held to celebrate the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the
queen's accession, were marked with great displays and public
ceremonies. On both occasions, Colonial Conferences attended by the
Prime Ministers of the self-governing colonies were held.

Despite her advanced age, Victoria continued her duties
to the end - including an official visit to Dublin in 1900. The Boer
War in South Africa overshadowed the end of her reign. As in the
Crimean War nearly half a century earlier, Victoria reviewed her
troops and visited hospitals; she remained undaunted by British
reverses during the campaign: 'We are not interested in the
possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.'

Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on
22 January 1901 after a reign which lasted almost 64 years, the
longest in British history. She was buried at Windsor beside Prince
Albert, in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum, which she had built for
their final resting place. Above the Mausoleum door are inscribed
Victoria's words: 'farewell best beloved, here at last I shall rest
with thee, with thee in Christ I shall rise again'.

SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA

The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha came to the British Royal
Family in 1840 with the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert,
son of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha. Queen Victoria
herself remained a member of the House of Hanover.

The only British monarch of the House of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was King Edward VII, who reigned for nine years at
the beginning of the modern age in the early years of the 20th
century. King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that
of Windsor during the First World War. The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
survived in other European monarchies, including the current Belgian
Royal Family and the former monarchies of Portugal and Bulgaria.

SAXE-COBURG
AND GOTHA

1837
- 1917

THE
WINDSORS

1917
– PRESENT DAY

VICTORIA
= m. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha

(1837-1910)
(Prince Consort)

EDWARD
VII
= m. Princess Alexandra, dau. of CHRISTIAN IX, King of

(1910
– 1936) Denmark

DUKE
OF WINDSOR
GEORGE
VI = m.
Lady Elizabeth

EDWARD
VIII
1936-1952
Bowes-Lyon, dau. of Earl of

(abdicated
1936)
Strathmore and Kinghorne

(Queen
Elizabeth

The
Queen Mother)

QUEEN
ELIZABETH II

(1952
– present day)

EDWARD VII (1901-10)

Edward
VII, born November 9, 1841, was the eldest son of Queen Victoria. He
took the family name of his father, Prince Consort Albert, hence the
change in lineage, although he was still Hanoverian on his mother's
side. He married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863, who bore him
three sons and three daughters. Edward died on May 6, 1910, after a
series of heart attacks.

Victoria, true to the Hanoverian name, saw the worst in
Edward. She and Albert imposed a strict regime upon Edward, who
proved resistant and resentful throughout his youth. His marriage at
age twenty-two to Alexandra afforded him some relief from his
mother's domination, but even after Albert's death in 1863, Victoria
consistently denied her son any official governmental role. Edward
rebelled by completely indulging himself in women, food, drink,
gambling, sport and travel. Alexandra turned a blind eye to his
extramarital activities, which continued well into his sixties and
found him implicated in several divorce cases.

Edward succeeded the throne upon Victoria's death;
despite his risqué reputation, Edward threw himself into his role of
king with vitality. His extensive European travels gave him a solid
foundation as an ambassador in foreign relations. Quite a few of the
royal houses of Europe were his relatives, allowing him to actively
assist in foreign policy negotiations. He also maintained an active
social life, and his penchant for flamboyant accouterments set trends
among the fashionable. Victoria's fears proved wrong: Edward's forays
into foreign policy had direct bearing on the alliances between Great
Britain and both France and Russia, and aside from his sexual
indiscretions, his manner and style endeared him to the English
populace.

Social legislation was the focus of Parliament during
Edward's reign. The 1902 Education Act provided subsidized secondary
education, and the Liberal government passed a series of acts
benefiting children after 1906; old age pensions were established in
1908. The 1909 Labour Exchanges Act laid the groundwork for national
health insurance, which led to a constitutional crisis over the means
of budgeting such social legislation. The budget set forth by David
Lloyd-George proposed major tax increases on wealthy landowners and
was defeated in Parliament. Prime Minister Asquith appealed to Edward
to create several new peerages to swing the vote, but Edward
steadfastly refused. Edward died amidst the budgetary crisis at age
sixty-eight, which was resolved the following year by the Liberal
government's passage of the act.

Despite Edward's colorful personal life and Victoria's
perceptions of him as profligate, Edward ruled peacefully (aside from
the Boer War of 1899-1902) and successfully during his short reign,
which is remarkable considering the shifts in European power that
occurred in the first decade of the twentieth century.

THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR

The House of Windsor came into being in 1917, when the
name was adopted as the British Royal Family's official name by a
proclamation of King George V, replacing the historic name of
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. It remains the family name of the current Royal
Family.

During the twentieth century, kings and queens of the
United Kingdom have fulfilled the varied duties of constitutional
monarchy. One of their most important roles was national figureheads
lifting public morale during the devastating world wars of 1914-18
and 1939-45.

The period saw the modernization of the monarchy in
tandem with the many social changes which have taken place over the
past 80 years. One such modernization has been the use of mass
communication technologies to make the Royal Family accessible to a
broader public the world over. George V adopted the new relatively
new medium of radio to broadcast across the Empire at Christmas; the
Coronation ceremony was broadcast on television for the first time in
1953, at The Queen's insistence; and the World Wide Web has been used
for the past five years to provide a global audience with information
about the Royal Family. During this period British monarchs have also
played a vital part in promoting international relations, retaining
ties with former colonies in their role as Head of the Commonwealth.

GEORGE V (1910-36)

George
V was born June 3, 1865, the second son of Edward VII and Alexandra.
His early education was somewhat insignificant as compared to that of
the heir apparent, his older brother Albert. George chose the career
of professional naval officer and served competently until Albert
died in 1892, upon which George assumed the role of the heir
apparent. He married Mary of Teck (affectionately called May) in
1893, who bore him four sons and one daughter. He died the year after
his silver jubilee after a series of debilitating attacks of
bronchitis, on January 20, 1936.

George ascended the throne in the midst of a
constitutional crisis: the budget controversy of 1910. Tories in the
House of Lords were at odds with Liberals in the Commons pushing for
social reforms. When George agreed to create enough Liberal peerages
to pass the measure the Lords capitulated and gave up the power of
absolute veto, resolving the problem officially with passage of the
Parliament Bill in 1911. The first World War broke out in 1914,
during which George and May made several visits to the front; on one
such visit, George's horse rolled on top of him, breaking his pelvis
- George remained in pain for the rest of his life from the injury.
The worldwide depression of 1929-1931 deeply affected England,
prompting the king to persuade the heads of the three political
parties (Labour, Conservative and Liberal) to unite into a coalition
government. By the end of the 1920's, George and the Windsors were
but one of few royal families who retained their status in Europe.

The relationship between England and the rest of the
Empire underwent several changes. An independent Irish Parliament was
established in 1918 after the Sinn Fein uprising in 1916, and the
Government of Ireland Act (1920) divided Ireland along religious
lines. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa demanded the
right of self-governance after the war, resulting in the creation of
the British Commonwealth of Nations by the Statute of Westminster in
1931. India was accorded some degree of self-determination with the
Government of India Act in 1935.

The nature of the monarchy evolved through the influence
of George. In contrast to his grandmother and father - Victoria's
ambition to exert political influence in the tradition of Elizabeth I
and Edward VII's aspirations to manipulate the destiny of nations -
George's royal perspective was considerably more humble. He strove to
embody those qualities, which the nation saw as their greatest
strengths: diligence, dignity and duty. The monarchy transformed from
an institution of constitutional legality to the bulwark of
traditional values and customs (particularly those concerning the
family). Robert Lacey describes George as such: ". . . as his
official biographer felt compelled to admit, King George V was
distinguished 'by no exercise of social gifts, by no personal
magnetism, by no intellectual powers. He was neither a wit nor a
brilliant raconteur, neither well-read nor well-educated, and he made
no great contribution to enlightened social converse. He lacked
intellectual curiosity and only late in life acquired some measure of
artistic taste.' He was, in other words, exactly like most of his
subjects. He discovered a new job for modern kings and queens to do -
representation."

EDWARD VIII (
JANUARY-DECEMBER 1936)

As
Prince of Wales, Edward VIII (reigned January-December 1936) had
successfully carried out a number of regional visits (including areas
hit by economic depression) and other official engagements. These
visits and his official tours overseas, together with his good war
record and genuine care for the underprivileged, had made him
popular.

The first monarch to be a qualified pilot, Edward
created The King's Flight (now known as 32 (The Royal) Squadron) in
1936 to provide air transport for the Royal family's official duties.

In 1930, the Prince, who had already had a number of
affairs, had met and fallen in love with a married American woman,
Mrs Wallis Simpson. Concern about Edward's private life grew in the
Cabinet, opposition parties and the Dominions, when Mrs Simpson
obtained a divorce in 1936 and it was clear that Edward was
determined to marry her.

Eventually Edward realised he had to choose between the
Crown and Mrs Simpson who, as a twice-divorced woman, would not have
been acceptable as Queen. On 10 December 1936, Edward VIII executed
an Instrument of Abdication which was given legal effect the
following day, when Edward gave Royal Assent to His Majesty's
Declaration of Abdication Act, by which Edward VIII and any children
he might have were excluded from succession to the throne. In 1937,
Edward was created Duke of Windsor and married Wallis Simpson.

During the Second World War, the Duke of Windsor escaped
from Paris, where he was living at the time of the fall of France, to
Lisbon in 1940. The Duke of Windsor was then appointed Governor of
the Bahamas, a position he held until 1945. He lived abroad until the
end of his life, dying in 1972 in Paris (he is buried at Windsor).
Edward was never crowned; his reign lasted 325 days. His brother
Albert became King, using his last name George.

GEORGE VI (1936-52)

George
VI, born December 14, 1895, was the second son of George V and Mary
of Teck. He was an unassuming, shy boy who greatly admired his
brother Edward, Prince of Wales. From childhood to the age of thirty,
George suffered with a bad stammer in his speech, which exacerbated
his shyness; Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist, was
instrumental in helping George overcome the speech defect. George
married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, who bore him two
daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. He died from cancer on February 6,
1952.

Due to the controversy surrounding the abdication of
Edward VIII, popular opinion of the throne was at its lowest point
since the latter half of Victoria's reign. The abdication, however,
was soon overshadowed by continental developments, as Europe inched
closer to yet another World War. After several years of pursuing
"appeasement" policies with Germany, Great Britain (and
France) declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. George,
following in his father's footsteps, visited troops, munitions
factories, supply docks and bomb-damaged areas to support the war
effort. As the Nazi's bombed London, the royal family remained at
Buckingham Palace; George went so far as to practice firing his
revolver, vowing that he would defend Buckingham to the death.
Fortunately, such defense was never necessary. The actions of the
King and Queen during the war years greatly added to the prestige of
the monarchy.

George predicted the hardships following the end of the
war as early as 1941. From 1945-50, Great Britain underwent marked
transitions. The Bank of England, as well as most facets of industry,
transportation, energy production and health care, were brought to
some degree of public ownership. The birth pangs of the Welfare State
and the change from Empire to multiracial Commonwealth troubled the
high-strung king. The political turmoil and economic hardships of the
post-war years left the king physically and emotionally drained by
the time of his death.

In the context of royal history, George VI was one of
only five monarchs who succeeded the throne in the lifetime of his
predecessor; Henry IV, Edward IV, Richard III, and William III were
the other four. George, upon his ascension, wrote to Prime Minister
Stanley Baldwin concerning the state of the monarchy: "I am new
to the job but I hope that time will be allowed to me to make amends
for what has happened." His brother Edward continued to advise
George on matters of the day, but such advice was a hindrance, as it
was contradictory to policies pursued by George's ministers. The
"slim, quiet man with tired eyes" (as described by Logue)
had a troubled reign, but he did much to leave the monarchy in better
condition than he found it.

ELIZABETH II (1952-PRESENT)

Elizabeth
II, born April 21, 1926, is the eldest daughter of George VI and
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She married Philip Mountbatten, a distant
cousin, in 1947; the pair have four children: Charles, Prince of
Wales, Anne, Andrew and Edward. She has reigned for forty-six years,
and appears capable of remaining on the throne for quite some time.

Monarchy, as an institution in Europe, all but
disappeared during the two World Wars: a scant ten monarchs remain
today, seven of which have familial ties to England. Elizabeth is, by
far, the best known of these, and is the most widely traveled Head of
State in the world. Her ascension was accompanied by constitutional
innovation; each independent, self-governing country proclaimed
Elizabeth, Queen of their individual state. She approves of the
transformation from Empire to Commonwealth, describing the change as
a "beneficial and civilized metamorphosis." The
indivisibility of the crown was formally abandoned by statute in
1953, and "Head of the Commonwealth" was added to the long
list of royal titles which she possesses.

Elizabeth's travels have won the adulation of her
subjects; she is greeted with honest enthusiasm and warm regard with
each visit abroad. She has been the master link in a chain of unity
forged among the various countries within the Commonwealth. Hence,
the monarchy, as well as the Empire, has evolved - what once was the
image of absolute power is now a symbol of fraternity.

Elizabeth has managed to maintain a division between her
public and private life. She is the first monarch to send her
children to boarding schools in order to remove them from the
ever-probing media. She has a strong sense of duty and diligence and
dispatches her queenly business with great candor, efficiency and
dignity. Her knowledge of current situations and trends is uncannily
up to date, often to the embarrassment of her Prime Ministers. Harold
Wilson, upon his retirement, remarked, "I shall certainly advise
my successor to do his homework before his audience." Churchill,
who had served four monarchs, was impressed and delighted by her
knowledge and wit. She possesses a sense of humor rarely exhibited in
public where a dignified presence is her goal.

Elizabeth, like her father before her, raised the
character of the monarchy through her actions. Unfortunately, the
actions of her children have tarnished the royal name. The much
publicized divorces of Charles from Diana and Andrew from Sarah
Ferguson have been followed by further indiscretions by the princes,
causing a heavily-taxed populace to rethink the necessity of a
monarchy. Perhaps Elizabeth will not reign as long as Victoria, but
her exceptionally long reign has provided a bright spot in the life
of her country.

THE
MONARCHY TODAY

THE QUEEN'S ROLE

The Queen is the United Kingdom's Head of State. As well
as carrying out significant constitutional functions, The Queen also
acts as a focus for national unity, presiding at ceremonial
occasions, visiting local communities and representing Britain around
the world. The Queen is also Head of the Commonwealth. During her
reign she has visited all the Commonwealth countries, going on
'walkabouts' to gain direct contact with people from all walks of
life throughout the world.

Behind and in front of the cameras, The Queen's work
goes on. No two days in The Queen's working life are ever the same.

QUEEN'S ROLE IN THE MODERN STATE

Until the end of the 17th century, British monarchs were
executive monarchs - that is, they had the right to make and pass
legislation. Since the beginning of the eighteenth century, the
monarch has become a constitutional monarch, which means that he or
she is bound by rules and conventions and remains politically
impartial.

On almost all matters he or she acts on the advice of
ministers. While acting constitutionally, the Sovereign retains an
important political role as Head of State, formally appointing prime
ministers, approving certain legislation and bestowing honours.

The Queen also has important roles to play in other
organisations, including the Armed Forces and the Church of England.

QUEEN'S ROLE IN THE MODERN STATE

Until the end of the 17th century, British monarchs were
executive monarchs - that is, they had the right to make and pass
legislation. Since the beginning of the eighteenth century, the
monarch has become a constitutional monarch, which means that he or
she is bound by rules and conventions and remains politically
impartial.

On almost all matters he or she acts on the advice of
ministers. While acting constitutionally, the Sovereign retains an
important political role as Head of State, formally appointing prime
ministers, approving certain legislation and bestowing honours.

The Queen also has important roles to play in other
organisations, including the Armed Forces and the Church of England.

QUEEN AND COMMONWEALTH

The Queen is not only Queen of the
United Kingdom, but Head of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association
of 54 independent countries.

Most of these countries have progressed from British
rule to independent self-government, and the Commonwealth now serves
to foster international co-operation and trade links between people
all over the world.

The Queen is
also Queen of a number of Commonwealth realms, including Australia,
New Zealand and Canada.

ROYAL VISITS

Visits to all kinds of places throughout the United
Kingdom, Commonwealth and overseas are an important part of the work
of The Queen and members of the Royal family. They allow members of
the Royal family to meet people from all walks of life and
backgrounds, to celebrate local and national achievements and to
strengthen friendships between different countries. Many of the
visits are connected to charities and other organisations with which
members of the Royal family are associated. In other cases, royal
visits help to celebrate historic occasions in the life of a region
or nation. All visits are carefully planned to ensure that as many
people as possible have the opportunity to see or meet members of the
Royal family.

THE QUEEN'S WORKING DAY

The Queen has many different duties to perform every
day. Some are familiar public duties, such as Investitures,
ceremonies, receptions or visits within the United Kingdom or abroad.
Away from the cameras, however, The Queen's work goes on. It includes
reading letters from the public, official papers and briefing notes;
audiences with political ministers or ambassadors; and meetings with
her Private Secretaries to discuss her future diary plans. No two
days are ever the same and The Queen must remain prepared throughout.

CEREMONIES AND PAGEANTRY

The colourful ceremonies and traditions associated with
the British Monarchy are rich in history and meaning and fascinating
to watch. In some, The Queen takes part in person. In others - such
as Guard Mounting or Swan Upping - the ceremony is performed in The
Queen's name. Many of the ceremonies take place on a regular basis -
every year or even every day - which means that British people and
visitors to London and other parts of the United Kingdom may have an
opportunity to see some of these interesting events take place.

THE QUEEN'S CEREMONIAL DUTIES

The Queen has many ceremonial roles. Some - such as the
State Opening of Parliament, Audiences with new ambassadors and the
presentation of decorations at Investitures - relate to The Queen's
role as Head of State.

Others - such as the presentation of Maundy money and
the hosting of garden parties - are historical ceremonies in which
kings and queens have taken part for decades or even centuries.

ROYAL PAGEANTRY AND TRADITIONS

In addition to the events in which The Queen takes part,
there are many other ceremonies and traditions associated with the
British Monarchy. Some of these have military associations, involving
troops from the present Armed Forces as well as the members of the
historical royal bodyguard, the Yeomen of the Guard. Others are
traditions which are less well known than the colourful pageantry but
are interesting in their own right. Some - such as the customary
broadcasts by the Sovereign on Christmas Day and Commonwealth Day -
are fairly recent in origin, but have rapidly become familiar and
popular traditions.

ROYAL
SUCCESSION

When a sovereign dies, or abdicates, a successor is
immediately decided according to rules which were laid down at the
end of the seventeenth century. The coronation of a new sovereign is
a ceremony of great pageantry and celebration that has remained
essentially the same for over a thousand years. As well as explaining
accession, succession and coronation, this section looks at the
titles which have been held by different members of the Royal Family
throughout history.

THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD

Divided into five departments, the Royal Household
assists The Queen in carrying out her official duties. Members of the
Royal Household carry out the work and roles which were performed by
courtiers historically. There are 645 full-time employees, employed
across a wide range of professions. People employed within the Royal
Household are recruited from the general workforce on merit, in terms
of qualifications, experience and aptitude. Details of the latest
vacancies are listed in the Recruitment pages of this section.

The Royal Household includes The Queen's Household, plus
the Households of other members of the Royal Family who undertake
public engagements. The latter comprise members of their private
offices and other people who assist with their public duties.

ROYAL HOUSEHOLD DEPARTMENTS

Royal Household's functions are divided across five
departments, under the overall authority of the Lord Chamberlain, the
senior member of The Queen's Household. These departments developed
over centuries and originated in the functions of the Royal Court. As
a result, the departments and many job titles have ancient names -
the jobs themselves, however, are thoroughly modern!

Most of the departments are based in Buckingham Palace,
although there are also offices in St. James's Palace, Windsor Castle
and the Royal Mews. Members of the Royal Household also often travel
with The Queen on overseas visits and during The Queen's stays at
Balmoral Castle and Sandringham, since The Queen's work continues
even when she is away from London.

In addition to the full-time members of the Royal
Household, there are other part-time members of The Queen's
Household. These include the Great Officers of State who take part in
important Royal ceremonies, as well as Ladies-in-waiting, who are
appointed personally by The Queen and female members of the Royal
Family.

RECRUITMENT

People are employed within the Royal Household from a
wide range of sectors and professions, including catering,
housekeeping, accountancy, secretarial and administrative fields,
public relations, human resources management, art curatorship and
strategic planning disciplines. The special nature of the Royal
Household means that unique career opportunities are available.

Employment in the Royal Household offers excellent
career opportunities for those who wish to take a new direction.
Positions in the Royal Household receive good remuneration and
benefits. For domestic positions, there are often enhanced by
accommodation. The Royal Household is also committed to training and
development, including NVQ and vocational training, general
management and skills-based training across a range of disciplines -
from carriage driving to an in-house diploma for footmen which is
widely recognised in its specialised field as a valued vocational
qualification.

Jobs at Buckingham Palace and in other Royal residences
are usually advertised in national, regional or specialist media in
the usual way. Details of the latest vacancies are listed in the
Recruitment pages of this section and applications can be made by
downloading the standard application form. All positions are also
advertised internally to encourage career development and to offer
opportunities for promotion to existing employees.

A number of vacancies occur on a regular basis,
including positions as housemaids, footmen and secretaries. In
addition, nearly 200 Wardens are employed each year for Buckingham
Palace's Summer Opening programme. Speculative enquiries are welcome
for these posts throughout the year.

Recruitment is in all cases on merit, in terms of
qualifications, experience and aptitude. The Royal Household is
committed to Equal Opportunities.

ANNIVERSARIES

Since 1917, the Sovereign has sent congratulatory
messages to those celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday and
every year thereafter, and to those celebrating their Diamond Wedding
(60th), 65th, 70th wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter.
For many people, receiving a message from The Queen on these
anniversaries is a very special moment.

For data privacy reasons, there is no automatic alert
from government records for wedding anniversaries. The
Department for Work and Pensions informs the Anniversaries Office of
birthdays for recipients of UK State pensions. However, to ensure
that a message is sent for birthdays and wedding anniversaries alike,
an application needs to be made by a relative or friend in
advance of the special day.

The Queen's congratulatory messages consist of a card
containing a personalised message with a facsimile signature. The
card comes in a special envelope, which is delivered through the
normal postal channels.

More information about applying for a message and
interesting facts about the tradition are contained in this
section.

ROYAL FINANCES

This section provides the latest information on Head of
State expenditure, together with information about Royal financial
arrangements.

It includes information about the four sources of
funding of The Queen (or officials of the Royal Household acting on
her behalf). The Civil List meets official expenditure relating to
The Queen's duties as Head of State and Head of the Commonwealth.
Grants-in-Aid from Parliament provide upkeep of the Royal Palaces and
for Royal travel. The Privy Purse is traditional income for the
Sovereign's public and private use. Her Majesty's personal income
meets entirely private expenditure.

The Queen pays tax on her personal income and capital
gains. The Civil List and the Grants-in-Aid are not taxed because
they cover official expenditure. The Privy Purse is fully taxable,
subject to a deduction for official expenditure.

These pages also contain information about the financial
arrangements of other members of the Royal Family, together with
information on the Royal Philatelic Collection.

HEAD OF STATE EXPENDITURE 2000-01

Head of State expenditure is the official expenditure
relating to The Queen's duties as Head of State and Head of the
Commonwealth. Head of State expenditure is met from public funds in
exchange for the surrender by The Queen of the revenue from the Crown
Estate.

Head of State expenditure for 2001-02, at £35.3
million, is 1.0% higher than in the previous year (a decrease of 1.3%
in real terms). The £350,000 increase is mainly attributable to fire
precautions work at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, offset by the fact
that costs transferred from other funding sources to the Civil List
with effect from 1st April 2001 are only included in 2001 Civil List
expenditure for nine months. They will be included for a full year in
2002 and subsequently. Costs have been transferred to the Civil List
from other funding sources in order to utilise the Civil List reserve
brought forward at 1st January 2001. Head of State expenditure has
reduced from £84.6 million (expressed in current pounds) in 1991-92,
a reduction of 58%.

SOURCES OF FUNDING

The four sources of funding of The Queen, or officials
of the Royal Household acting on Her Majesty's behalf, are: the Civil
List, the Grants-in-Aid for upkeep of Royal Palaces and for Royal
travel, the Privy Purse and The Queen's personal wealth and income.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES

The Prince of Wales does not receive any money from the
State. Instead, he receives the annual net surplus of the Duchy of
Cornwall and uses it to meet the costs of all aspects of his public
and private commitments, and those of Prince William and Prince
Harry.

The Duchy's name is derived from the Earldom of
Cornwall, which Edward III elevated to a duchy in 1337. The Duchy's
founding charter included the gift of estates spread throughout
England. It also stated that the Duchy should be in the stewardship
of the Heir Apparent, to provide the Heir with an income independent
of the Sovereign or the State.

After 660 years, the Duchy's land holdings have become
more diversified, but the Duchy is still predominantly an
agricultural estate. Today, it consists of around 57,000 hectares,
mostly in the South of England. It is run on a commercial basis, as
prescribed by the parliamentary legislation which governs its
activities.

Prince Charles became the 24th Duke of Cornwall on The
Queen's accession in 1952. He is in effect a trustee, and is not
entitled to the proceeds of disposals of assets. The Prince must pass
on the estate intact, so that it continues to provide an income from
its assets for future Dukes of Cornwall.

The Duchy's net surplus for the year to 31 March 2002
was £7,827,000. As a Crown body, the Duchy is tax exempt, but The
Prince of Wales voluntarily pays income tax (currently at 40%) on his
taxable income from it.

FINANCES OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY

Under the Civil List Acts, The Duke of Edinburgh
receives an annual parliamentary allowance to enable him to carry out
public duties. Since 1993, The Queen has repaid to the Treasury the
annual parliamentary allowances received by other members of the
Royal family.

The annual amounts payable to members of the Royal
family (which are set every ten years) were reset at their 1990
levels for the next ten years, until December 2010. Apart from an
increase of £45,000 on the occasion of The Earl of Wessex's
marriage, these amounts remain as follows:

Parliamentary annuity (not repaid
by The Queen)

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

£359,000

Parliamentary annuities (repaid
by The Queen)

HRH The Duke of York

£249,000

HRH The Earl of Wessex

£141,000

HRH The Princess Royal

£228,000

HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester

£87,000

TRH The Duke and Duchess of GloucesterTRH The
Duke and Duchess of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra, Hon. Lady Ogilvy

*£636,000

* Of the £636,000, £175,000 is provided by The Queen
to The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, £236,000 to The Duke and
Duchess of Kent and £225,000 to Princess Alexandra.

As with the Civil List itself, most of these sums are
spent on staff who support public engagements and correspondence.

TAXATION

The Queen has always been subject to Value Added Tax and
other indirect taxes and she has paid local rates (Council Tax) on a
voluntary basis. In 1992, however, The Queen offered to pay income
tax and capital gains tax on a voluntary basis. As from 1993, her
personal income has been taxable as for any taxpayer and the Privy
Purse is fully taxable, subject to a deduction for official
expenditure. The Civil List and the Grants-in-Aid are not
remuneration for The Queen and are thus disregarded for tax.

Although The Queen's estate will be subject to
Inheritance Tax, bequests from Sovereign to Sovereign are exempt.
This is because constitutional impartiality requires an appropriate
degree of financial independence for the Sovereign and because the
Sovereign is unable to generate significant new wealth through
earnings or business activities. Also, the Sovereign cannot retire
and so cannot mitigate Inheritance Tax by passing on assets at an
early stage to his or her successor.

As a Crown body, the Duchy of Cornwall is tax exempt,
but since 1969 The Prince of Wales has made voluntary contributions
to the Exchequer. As from 1993, The Prince's income from the Duchy
has been fully subject to tax on a voluntary basis. He has always
paid tax, including income tax, in all other respects.

ROYAL ASSETS

The Queen does not 'own' the Royal Palaces, art
treasures from the Royal Collection, jewellery heirlooms and the
Crown Jewels, all of which are held by Her Majesty as Sovereign and
not as an individual. They must be passed on to The Queen's successor
in due course. The Queen and some members of the Royal Family past
and present have made private collections - such as the stamp
collection begun by George V. This is separate to the Royal
Collection, although exhibitions and loans of stamps are sometimes
made.

SYMBOLS

Many of the most familiar objects and events in national
life incorporate Royal symbols or represent the Monarchy in some way.
Flags, coats of arms, the crowns and treasures used at coronations
and some ceremonies, stamps, coins and the singing of the national
anthem have strong associations with the Monarchy and play a
significant part in our daily existence. Other objects - such as the
Great Seal of the Realm - may be less familiar to the general public
but still have a powerful symbolic role.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

'God Save The King' was a patriotic song first publicly
performed in London in 1745, which came to be referred to as the
National Anthem from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The
words and tune are anonymous, and may date back to the seventeenth
century.

In September 1745 the 'Young Pretender' to the British
Throne, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, defeated the army of King
George II at Prestonpans, near Edinburgh. In a fit of patriotic
fervour after news of Prestonpans had reached London, the leader of
the band at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, arranged 'God Save The
King' for performance after a play. It was a tremendous success and
was repeated nightly thereafter. This practice soon spread to other
theatres, and the custom of greeting the Monarch with the song as he
or she entered a place of public entertainment was thus established.

There
is no authorised version of the National Anthem as the words are a
matter of tradition. Additional verses have been added down the
years, but these are rarely used. The words used are those sung in
1745, substituting 'Queen' for 'King' where appropriate. On official
occasions, only the first verse is usually sung, as follows:

God
save our gracious Queen! Long
live our noble Queen! God
save the Queen! Send
her victorious, Happy
and glorious, Long
to reign over us, God
save the Queen.

An additional verse is occasionally sung:

Thy
choicest gifts in store On
her be pleased to pour, Long
may she reign. May
she defend our laws, And
ever give us cause, To
sing with heart and voice, God
save the Queen.

The British tune has been used in other countries - as
European visitors to Britain in the eighteenth century noticed the
advantage of a country possessing such a recognised musical symbol -
including Germany, Russia, Switzerland and America (where use of the
tune continued after independence). Some 140 composers, including
Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms, have used the tune in their
compositions.

ROYAL WARRANTS

Royal Warrants are granted to people or companies who
have regularly supplied goods or services for a minimum of five
consecutive years to The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen
Elizabeth The Queen Mother or The Prince of Wales. They are advised
by the Lord Chamberlain who is head of the Royal Household and
chairman of the Royal Household Tradesmen's Warrants Committee. Each
of these four members of the Royal family can grant only one warrant
to any individual business. However, a business may hold warrants
from more than one member of the Royal family and a handful of
companies holds all four.

The warrants are a mark of recognition that tradesmen
are regular suppliers of goods and services to the Royal households.
Strict regulations govern the warrant, which allows the grantee or
his company to use the legend 'By Appointment' and display the Royal
Arms on his products, such as stationery, advertisements and other
printed material, in his or her premises and on delivery vehicles.

A Royal Warrant is initially granted for five years,
after which time it comes up for review by the Royal Household
Tradesmen's Warrants Committee. Warrants may not be renewed if the
quality or supply for the product or service is insufficient, as far
as the relevant Royal Household is concerned. A Warrant may, however,
be cancelled at any time and is automatically reviewed if the grantee
dies or leaves the business, or if the firm goes bankrupt or is sold.
There are rules to ensure that high standards are maintained.

Since the Middle Ages, tradesmen who have acted as
suppliers of goods and services to the Sovereign have received formal
recognition. In the beginning, this patronage took the form of royal
charters given collectively to various guilds in trades and crafts
which later became known as livery companies. Over the centuries, the
relationship between the Crown and individual tradesmen was
formalised by the issue of royal warrants.

In the reign of Henry VIII, Thomas Hewytt was appointed
to 'Serve the Court with Swannes and Cranes and all kinds of
Wildfoule'. A hard-working Anne Harris was appointed as the 'King's
Laundresse'. Elizabeth I's household book listed, among other things,
the Yeomen Purveyors of 'Veales, Beeves & Muttons; Sea &
Freshwater Fish'. In 1684 goods and services to the Palace included a
Haberdasher of Hats, a Watchmaker in Reversion, an Operator for the
Teeth and a Goffe-Club Maker. According to the Royal Kalendar of
1789, a Pin Maker, a Mole Taker, a Card Maker and a Rat Catcher are
among other tradesmen appointed to the court. A notable omission was
the Bug Taker - at that time one of the busiest functionaries at
court but perhaps not one to be recorded in a Royal Kalendar. Records
also show that in 1776 Mr Savage Bear was 'Purveyor of Greens Fruits
and Garden Things', and that in 1820 Mr William Giblet was supplying
meat to the table of George IV.

Warrant holders today represent a large cross-section of
British trade and industry (there is a small number of foreign
names), ranging from dry cleaners to fishmongers, and from
agricultural machinery to computer software. A number of firms have a
record of Royal Warrants reaching back over more than 100 years.
Warrant-holding firms do not provide their goods or services free to
the Royal households, and all transactions are conducted on a
strictly commercial basis. There are currently approximately 800
Royal Warrant holders, holding over 1,100 Royal Warrants between them
(some have more than one Royal Warrant).

On 25 May 1840, a gathering of 'Her Majesty's Tradesmen'
held a celebration in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday. They later
decided to make this an annual event and formed themselves for the
purpose into an association which eventually became known as the
Royal Warrant Holders Association.

The Association acts both in a supervisory role to
ensure that the standards of quality and reliability in their goods
and services are upheld, and as a channel of communication for its
members in their dealings with the various departments of the Royal
Household. The Association ensures that the Royal Warrant is not used
by those not entitled and is correctly applied by those who are.

BANK NOTES AND COINAGE

There are close ties - past and present - between the
Monarchy and the monetary system. They can be seen, for example, in
the title of the 'Royal Mint' and the representation of the monarch
on all circulating British coinage.

The first coins were struck in the British Isles 2000
years ago using designs copied from Greek coins. Following the Roman
invasion of Britain in 43 AD, the Roman coinage system was
introduced. After the decline of Roman power in Britain from the
fifth century AD, the silver penny eventually emerged as the dominant
coin circulating in England but no standardized system was yet in
place.

In the eighth century, as strong kings emerged with
power over more than one region, they began to centralize the
currency. Offa introduced a new coinage in the form of the silver
penny, which for centuries was to be the basis of the English
currency. Alfred introduced further changes by authorising mints in
the burhs he had founded. By 800 AD coins regularly bore the names of
the kings for whom they were struck. A natural development was the
representation of their own images on their coins. Coinage played a
part in spreading the fame of kings - the more often coins passed
through men's hands, and the further afield they were taken by
plunder or trade, the more famous their royal sponsors became.
Athelstan (d. 939) is the first English king to be shown on his coins
wearing a crown or circlet. For many people, the king's image on
coins was the only likeness of the monarch which they were likely to
see in their lifetimes.

By the end of the tenth century the English monarchy had
the most sophisticated coinage system in western Europe. The system
allowed kings to exploit the wealth of a much enlarged kingdom and to
raise the very large sums of money which they had to use as bribes to
limit the effect of the Vikings' invasions at the end of the tenth
century.

For five centuries in England, until 1280, silver
pennies were the only royal coins in circulation. Gradually a range
of denominations began to emerge, and by the mid fourteenth century a
regular coinage of gold was introduced. The gold sovereign came into
existence in 1489 under King Henry VII. Throughout this period,
counterfeiting coinage was regarded as a grave crime against the
state amounting to high treason and was punishable by death under an
English statute of 1350. The crime was considered to be an
interference with the administration of government and the
representation of the monarch. Until the nineteenth century the Royal
Mint was based at the Tower of London, and for centuries was
therefore under the direct control of the monarch.

The English monarchy was the first monarchy in the
British Isles to introduce a coinage for practical and propaganda
purposes. Only one early Welsh king, Hywel Dda, minted a coin, though
it may not have been produced in Wales itself. The first Scottish
king to issue a coinage was David I (d. 1153). Until the reign of
Alexander III (1249-1286) Scottish coinage was only issued sparingly.
During the reign of Alexander III coins began to be minted in much
larger quantities, a result of increasing trade with Europe and the
importation of foreign silver.

After the death of Alexander III in 1289, Scotland fell
into a long period of internal strife and war with England. A nominal
coinage was issued under John Balliol c.1296 and then in reign of
Robert the Bruce (1306-1329), but the first substantial issue of
coinage did not come until the reign of David II (1329-1371). The
accession by James VI to the English throne in 1603 saw the fixing of
value of the Scottish coinage to a ratio of 1 / 12 with English
coinage. After the Act of Union in 1707 unique Scottish coinage came
to an end. The last Scottish minted coins were the sterling issues
based on the English denominations that were issued until 1709 with
the "E" mintmark for Edinburgh. Some British coinages have
featured Scottish devices, the Royal Arms of Scotland or the thistle
emblem during the 20th century, but these are a part of the coinage
of the United Kingdom, not unique to Scotland.

In the United Kingdom a streamlining of coinage
production took place in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Until the Restoration of Charles II, coins were struck by hand. In
1816, there was a major change in the British coinage, powered by the
Industrial Revolution. The Royal Mint moved from The Tower of London
to new premises on nearby Tower Hill, and acquired powerful new steam
powered coining presses. Further changes took place in the 1960s,
when the Mint moved to modern premises at Llantrisant, near Cardiff.

After over a thousand years and many changes in
production techniques, the monarch continues to be depicted on the
obverse of modern UK coinage. Certain traditions are observed in this
representation. From the time of Charles II onwards a tradition
developed of successive monarchs being represented on the coinage
facing in the opposite direction to their immediate predecessor.
There was an exception to this in the brief reign of Edward VIII, who
liked portraits of himself facing to the left, even though he should
have faced to the right according to tradition. The designs for
proposed coins in the Mint collection show Edward VIII facing to the
left. The tradition has been restored since the reign of George VI.

During The Queen's reign there have been four
representations of Her Majesty on circulating coinage. The original
coin portrait of Her Majesty was by Mary Gillick and was adopted at
the beginning of the reign in 1952. The following effigy was by
Arnold Machin OBE, RA, approved by the Queen in 1964. That portrait,
which features the same tiara as the latest effigy, was used on all
the decimal coins from 1968. The next effigy was by Raphael Maklouf
FRSA and was adopted in 1985. The latest portrait was introduced in
1998 and is the work of Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS, FSNAD. In keeping
with tradition, the new portrait continues to show the Queen in
profile facing to the right. Her Majesty is wearing the tiara which
she was given as a wedding present by her grandmother Queen Mary.

Images of the monarch on bank notes are a much more
recent invention. Although bank notes began to be issued from the
late seventeenth century, they did not come to predominate over coins
until the nineteenth century. Only since 1960 has the British
Sovereign been featured on English bank notes, giving The Queen a
unique distinction above her predecessors.

STAMPS

There is a close relationship between the British
Monarchy and the postal system of the United Kingdom. Present-day
postal services have their origins in royal methods of sending
documents in previous centuries. Nowadays, the image of The Queen on
postage stamps preserves the connection with the Monarchy.

For centuries letters on affairs of State to and from
the Sovereign's Court, and despatches in time of war, were carried by
Messengers of the Court and couriers employed for particular
occasions. Henry VIII's Master of the Posts set up post-stages along
the major roads of the kingdom where Royal Couriers, riding
post-haste, could change horses. In Elizabeth I's day, those carrying
the royal mail were to 'blow their horn as oft as they met company,
or four times every mile'. Letters of particular urgency - for
example, reprieves for condemned prisoners - bore inscriptions such
as 'Haste, haste - post haste - haste for life for life hast' and the
sign of the gallows. During the reign of James I (1603-25) all four
posts of the kingdom still centred on the Court: The Courte to
Barwicke (the post to Scotland); The Courte to Beaumoris (to
Ireland); The Courte to Dover (to Europe) and The Courte to Plymouth
(the Royal Dockyard).

Charles I opened his posts to public use, as a means of
raising money. Although public use of the royal posts increased, the
running of the mail continued to centre round the post requirements
of the Sovereign's Court. Until the 1780's the Mails did not leave
London until the Court letters had been received at the General Post
Office, and as late as 1807 Court letters coming into London were,
unlike ordinary letters, delivered the moment the mail arrived. The
postal system rapidly spread during Victoria's reign with the
introduction of the Uniform Penny Postage in 1840, and the Queen's
letters bore postage stamps like everyone else's. Royal Messengers
continued to carry certain letters by hand. The increase in the
Court's mail led to special postal facilities being provided in 1897
in the form of a Court Post Office - an arrangement which still
exists today under the management of the Court Postmaster.

Symbols of the royal origins of the UK's postal system
remain: a miniature silhouette of the Monarch's head is depicted on
all stamps; the personal cyphers of The Queen and her predecessors
(going back to Victoria) appear on many letterboxes dating from their
respective reigns throughout the country; and the postal delivery
service is known as the Royal Mail.

COATS OF ARMS

The function of the Royal Coat of Arms is to identify
the person who is Head of State. In respect of the United Kingdom,
the royal arms are borne only by the Sovereign. They are used in many
ways in connection with the administration and government of the
country, for instance on coins, in churches and on public buildings.
They are familiar to most people as they appear on the products and
goods of Royal Warrant holders.

The Royal Coat of Arms of the United
Kingdom have evolved over many years and reflect the history of the
Monarchy and of the country. In the design the shield shows the
various royal emblems of different parts of the United Kingdom: the
three lions of England in the first and fourth quarters, the lion of
Scotland in the second and the harp of Ireland in the third. It is
surrounded by a garter bearing the motto Honi
soit qui mal y pense
('Evil to him who evil thinks'), which symbolises the Order of the
Garter, an ancient order of knighthood of which the Queen is
Sovereign. The shield is supported by the English lion and Scottish
unicorn and is surmounted by the Royal crown. Below it appears the
motto of the Sovereign, Dieu
et mon droit ('God
and my right'). The plant badges of the United Kingdom - rose,
thistle and shamrock - are often displayed beneath the shield.

Separate Scottish and English quarterings of the Royal
Arms originate from the Union of the Crown in 1603. The Scottish
version of the Royal Coat of Arms shows the lion of Scotland in the
first and fourth quarters, with that of England being in the second.
The harp of Ireland is in the third quarter. The mottoes read In
defence and No one will attack me with impunity. From the times of
the Stuart kings, the Scottish quarterings have been used for
official purposes in Scotland (for example, on official buildings and
official publications).

The special position of Wales as a Principality was
recognised by the creation of the Prince of Wales long before the
incorporation of the quarterings for Scotland and Ireland in the
Royal Arms. The arms of the Prince of Wales show the arms of the
ancient Principality in the centre as well as these quarterings.

Coats of Arms of members of the Royal Family are broadly
similar to The Queen's with small differences to identify them.

GREAT SEAL

The Great Seal of the Realm is the chief seal of the
Crown, used to show the monarch's approval of important state
documents. In today's constitutional monarchy, the Sovereign acts on
the advice of the Government of the day, but the seal remains an
important symbol of the Sovereign's role as Head of State.

The practice of using this seal began in the reign of
Edward the Confessor in the 11th century, when a double-sided metal
matrix with an image of the Sovereign was used to make an impression
in wax for attachment by ribbon or cord to royal documents. The seal
meant that the monarch did not need to sign every official document
in person; authorisation could be carried out instead by an appointed
officer. In centuries when few people could read or write, the seal
provided a pictorial expression of royal approval which all could
understand. The uniqueness of the official seal - only one matrix was
in existence at any one time - also meant it was difficult to forge
or tamper with official documents.

The Great Seal matrix has changed many times throughout
the centuries. A new matrix is engraved at the beginning of each
reign on the order of the Sovereign; it is traditional that on the
death of the Sovereign the old seal is used until the new Sovereign
orders otherwise. For many monarchs, a single seal has sufficed. In
the case of some long-reigning monarchs, such as Queen Victoria, the
original seal simply wore out and a series of replacements was
required.

The Queen has had two Great Seals during her reign. The
first was designed by Gilbert Ledward and came into service in 1953.
Through long usage and the heat involved in the sealing process, the
matrix lost definition. From summer 2001 a new Great Seal, designed
by sculptor James Butler and produced by the Royal Mint, has been in
use. At a meeting of the Privy Council on 18 July 2001 The Queen
handed the new seal matrix over to the Lord High Chancellor,
currently Lord Irvine of Lairg, who is the traditional keeper of the
Great Seal.

The Great Seal matrix will be used to create seals for a
range of documents requiring royal approval, including letters
patent, royal proclamations, commissions, some writs (such as writs
for the election of Members of Parliament), and the documents which
give power to sign and ratify treaties. During the year 2000-01, more
than 100 documents passed under the Great Seal. Separate seals exist
for Scotland - the Great Seal of Scotland - and for Northern Ireland.

The process of sealing takes place nowadays at the House
of Lords in the office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. A
system of 'colour coding' is used for the seal impression, depending
on the type of document to which it is being affixed. Dark green
seals are affixed to letters patent which elevate individuals to the
peerage; blue seals are used for documents relating to the close
members of the Royal Family; and scarlet red is used for documents
appointing a bishop and for most other patents.

FLAGS

A number of different types of flag are associated with
The Queen and the Royal Family. The Union Flag (or Union Jack)
originated as a Royal flag, although it is now also flown by many
people and organisations elsewhere in the United Kingdom by long
established custom. The Royal Standard is the flag flown when The
Queen is in residence in one of the Royal Palaces, on The Queen's car
on official journeys and on aircraft (when on the ground), and
represents the Sovereign and the United Kingdom. The Queen's personal
flag, adopted in 1960, is personal to her alone and can be flown by
no one other than The Queen. Members of the Royal Family have their
own personal variants on the Royal Standard. The Prince of Wales has
additional Standards which he uses in Wales and Scotland.

CROWNS AND JEWELS

The crowns and treasures associated with the British
Monarchy are powerful symbols of monarchy for the British people and,
as such, their value represents more than gold and precious stones.
Today the crowns and treasures associated with English kings and
queens since 1660 and earlier are used for the Coronation of Monarchs
of the United Kingdom. The crowns and regalia used by Scottish
monarchs (the Honours of Scotland) and Princes of Wales (the Honours
of the Principality of Wales) continue to have symbolic meaning in
Scotland and Wales. All three collections of treasures can be viewed
today in their different locations - the Tower of London, Edinburgh
Castle and the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.

TRANSPORT

The Queen's State and private motor cars are housed in
the Royal Mews. For official duties - providing transport for State
and other visitors as well as The Queen herself - there are nine
State limousines, consisting of one Bentley, five Rolls-Royces and
three Daimlers. They are painted in Royal maroon livery and the
Bentley and Rolls-Royces uniquely do not have registration number
plates. Other vehicles include a number of Vauxhall Sintra 'people
carriers'.

The most recent State car, which is used for most of The
Queen's engagements, is a State Bentley presented to The Queen to
mark her Golden Jubilee in 2002. The one-off model, conceived by a
Bentley-led consortium of British motor industry manufacturers and
suppliers, is the first Bentley to be used for State occasions. It
was designed with input from The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and Her
Majesty's Head Chauffeur.

In technical terms, the car has a monocoque
construction, enabling greater use to be made of the vehicle's
interior space. This means the transmission tunnel now runs
underneath the floor, without encroaching on the cabin and has
enabled the stylists to work with a lowered roofline whilst
preserving the required interior height. The rear doors have
been redesigned enabling The Queen to stand up straight before
stepping down to the ground. The rear seats are upholstered in Hield
Lambswool Sateen cloth whilst all remaining upholstery is in light
grey Connolly hide. Carpets are pale blue in the rear and dark
blue in the front.

A Rolls-Royce Phantom VI was presented to The Queen
in 1978 for her Silver Jubilee by the Society of Motor Manufacturers
and Traders. The oldest car in the fleet is the Phantom IV, built in
1950, 5.76 litre with a straight eight engine and a Mulliner body.
There is also a 1987 Phantom VI and two identical Phantom V models
built in the early 1960s. The 1978 Phantom VI and the two Phantom V
models have a removable exterior roof covering, which exposes an
inner lining of perspex, giving a clear view of passengers.

All the cars have fittings for the shield bearing the
Royal Coat of Arms and the Royal Standard. The Queen has her own
mascot for use on official cars. Designed for her by the artist
Edward Seago in the form of St George on a horse poised victorious
over a slain dragon, it is made of silver and can be transferred from
car to car as necessary. The Duke of Edinburgh's mascot, a heraldic
lion wearing a crown, is adapted from his arms.

For her private use The Queen drives a Daimler Jaguar
saloon or a Vauxhall estate (like every other qualified driver, The
Queen holds a driving licence). The Duke of Edinburgh has a Range
Rover and, for short journeys round London, uses a Metrocab. The
private cars are painted Edinburgh green.

A number of Royal Mews vehicles have now been converted
to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - a more environmentally
friendly fuel than petrol or diesel. Converted vehicles include one
of the Rolls-Royce Phantom IVs, a Daimler and The Duke of Edinburgh's
Metrocab.

CARS

The Queen's State and private motor cars are housed in
the Royal Mews. For official duties - providing transport for State
and other visitors as well as The Queen herself - there are nine
State limousines, consisting of one Bentley, five Rolls-Royces and
three Daimlers. They are painted in Royal maroon livery and the
Bentley and Rolls-Royces uniquely do not have registration number
plates. Other vehicles include a number of Vauxhall Sintra 'people
carriers'.

The most recent State car, which is used for most of The
Queen's engagements, is a State Bentley presented to The Queen to
mark her Golden Jubilee in 2002. The one-off model, conceived by a
Bentley-led consortium of British motor industry manufacturers and
suppliers, is the first Bentley to be used for State occasions. It
was designed with input from The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and Her
Majesty's Head Chauffeur.

In technical terms, the car has a monocoque
construction, enabling greater use to be made of the vehicle's
interior space. This means the transmission tunnel now runs
underneath the floor, without encroaching on the cabin and has
enabled the stylists to work with a lowered roofline whilst
preserving the required interior height. The rear doors have
been redesigned enabling The Queen to stand up straight before
stepping down to the ground. The rear seats are upholstered in Hield
Lambswool Sateen cloth whilst all remaining upholstery is in light
grey Connolly hide. Carpets are pale blue in the rear and dark
blue in the front.

A Rolls-Royce Phantom VI was presented to The Queen
in 1978 for her Silver Jubilee by the Society of Motor Manufacturers
and Traders. The oldest car in the fleet is the Phantom IV, built in
1950, 5.76 litre with a straight eight engine and a Mulliner body.
There is also a 1987 Phantom VI and two identical Phantom V models
built in the early 1960s. The 1978 Phantom VI and the two Phantom V
models have a removable exterior roof covering, which exposes an
inner lining of perspex, giving a clear view of passengers.

All the cars have fittings for the shield bearing the
Royal Coat of Arms and the Royal Standard. The Queen has her own
mascot for use on official cars. Designed for her by the artist
Edward Seago in the form of St George on a horse poised victorious
over a slain dragon, it is made of silver and can be transferred from
car to car as necessary. The Duke of Edinburgh's mascot, a heraldic
lion wearing a crown, is adapted from his arms.

For her private use The Queen drives a Daimler Jaguar
saloon or a Vauxhall estate (like every other qualified driver, The
Queen holds a driving licence). The Duke of Edinburgh has a Range
Rover and, for short journeys round London, uses a Metrocab. The
private cars are painted Edinburgh green.

A number of Royal Mews vehicles have now been converted
to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - a more environmentally
friendly fuel than petrol or diesel. Converted vehicles include one
of the Rolls-Royce Phantom IVs, a Daimler and The Duke of Edinburgh's
Metrocab.

CARRIAGES

Housed in the Royal Mews is the collection of historic
carriages and coaches, most of which are still in use to convey
members of the Royal family in State ceremonial processions or on
other royal occasions.

The oldest coach is the Gold State Coach, first used by
George III when he opened Parliament in 1762 and used for every
coronation since George IV's in 1821. As its name implies, it is
gilded all over and the exterior is decorated with painted panels. It
weighs four tons and requires eight horses to pull it.

The coach now used by The Queen at the State Opening of
Parliament is known as the Irish State Coach because the original was
built in 1851 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who was also a
coachbuilder. Although extensively damaged by fire in 1911, the
existing coach was completely restored in 1989 by the Royal Mews
carriage restorers, who stripped the coach to the bare wood and
applied twenty coats of paint, including gilding and varnishing. The
exterior is blue and black with gilt decoration and the interior is
covered in blue damask. It is normally driven from the box seat using
four horses.

Other coaches include the Scottish State Coach (built in
1830 and used for Scottish and English processions), Queen
Alexandra's State Coach (used to convey the Imperial State Crown to
Parliament for the State Opening), the 1902 State Landau, the
Australian State Coach (presented to The Queen in 1988 by the
Australian people to mark Australia's bicentenary), the Glass Coach
(built in 1881 and used for royal weddings) and the State and
Semi-State Landaus (used in State processions).

In addition there are two barouches, broughams (which
every day carry messengers on their official rounds in London), Queen
Victoria's Ivory-Mounted Phaeton (used by The Queen since 1987 for
her Birthday Parade) as well as a number of other carriages. In all,
there are over 100 coaches and carriages in the Royal Collection.

All the carriages and coaches are maintained by
craftsmen in the Royal Mews department and some of the coaches and
carriages can be viewed on days when the Royal Mews is open to the
public.

THE ROYAL TRAIN

Modern Royal Train vehicles came into operation in 1977
with the introduction of four new saloons to mark The Queen's Silver
Jubilee. This continued a service which originated on 13 June, 1842,
when the engine Phlegethon, pulling the royal saloon and six other
carriages, transported Queen Victoria from Slough to Paddington. The
journey took 25 minutes.

It is perhaps somewhat misleading to talk of 'the Royal
Train' because the modern train consists of carriages drawn from a
total of eight purpose-built saloons, pulled by one of the two Royal
Class 47 diesel locomotives, Prince William or Prince Henry. The
exact number and combination of carriages forming a Royal Train is
determined by factors such as which member of the Royal family is
travelling and the time and duration of the journey. When not pulling
the Royal Train, the two locomotives are used for general duties.

The Royal Train enables members of the Royal family to
travel overnight, at times when the weather is too bad to fly, and to
work and hold meetings during lengthy journeys. It has modern office
and communications facilities. Journeys on the train are always
organised so as not to interfere with scheduled services. (Where
appropriate, The Queen and other members of the Royal family use
scheduled services for their official journeys.)

The carriages are a distinctive maroon with red and
black coach lining and a grey roof. The carriages available include
the royal compartments, sleeping, dining and support cars. The
Queen's Saloon has a bedroom, bathroom and a sitting room with an
entrance which opens onto the platform. The Duke of Edinburgh's
Saloon has a similar layout plus a kitchen. Fitted out at the former
British Rail's Wolverton Works in Buckinghamshire, Scottish
landscapes by Roy Penny and Victorian prints of earlier rail journeys
hang in both saloons.

A link with the earliest days of railways is displayed
in the Duke of Edinburgh's Saloon: a piece of Isambard Kingdom
Brunel's original broad gauge rail, presented on the 150th
anniversary of the Great Western Railway. (Brunel accompanied Queen
Victoria on her inaugural 1842 journey.)

The current Queen's and Duke's Saloons came into service
in 1977, when they were extensively used during the Silver Jubilee
royal tours. They were not, however, new. They began life in 1972 as
prototypes for the standard Inter-City Mark III passenger carriage
and were subsequently fitted out for their royal role at the
Wolverton Works. All work on the Royal Train is normally done at
Wolverton.

Railtrack PLC manages the Royal Train and owns the
rolling stock. Day-to-day operations are conducted by another
privatised company, English, Welsh and Scottish Railways. The cost of
maintaining and using the train is met by the Royal Household from
the Grant-in-Aid which it receives from Parliament each year for air
and rail travel. In 2000-01 the total cost of the Royal Train was
£596,000; the train made 17 journeys.

A number of former Royal Train carriages are now on
display at the National Railway Museum in York.

ROYAL AIR TRAVEL

The history of Royal flying dates back more than 80
years to 1917, when The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII)
became the first member of the Royal family to fly, in France during
the First World War. The Prince went on to become a skilful pilot.
From 1930 onwards members of the Royal family made increasing use of
aircraft, largely operating from Hendon in north London. In 1936, on
becoming King Edward VIII, the former Prince of Wales was the first
British Monarch to fly.

Since then many members of the Royal family have learnt
to fly. The Duke of York trained as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot and
flew in operations during the 1982 Falklands Conflict - the first
member of the Royal family to see active service since the Second
World War. In an unblemished flying career spanning more than 40
years The Duke of Edinburgh has flown more different aircraft types
than most pilots. The Prince of Wales, too, has accumulated many
hours flying both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Royal flying was formalised on 21 July 1936 with the
creation of The King's Flight at Hendon. The new flight operated a
single twin-engine Dragon Rapide, G-ADDD, formerly the king's private
aircraft. The first Captain of the King's Flight was Wing Commander
E.H. Fielden (who later became an Air Vice-Marshal). The Dragon
Rapide was replaced in May 1937 by an Airspeed Envoy III, G-AEXX, the
first aircraft purchased specifically for the Flight. The Second
World War saw The King's Flight temporarily disbanded, although
members of the Royal family continued to fly using military aircraft.

In 1946 The King's Flight was reformed, in greater
strength, at RAF Benson with four Vickers Vikings. The following year
all were heavily used during the Royal Tour of South Africa.

After The Queen's accession The King's Flight was
renamed The Queen's Flight. The first helicopter - a Westland
Dragonfly - was acquired in September 1954 and was quickly championed
by The Duke of Edinburgh (who qualified as a helicopter pilot the
following year). It was replaced in 1958 by two Westland Whirlwinds.
In 1964 Hawker Siddeley Andovers were introduced for fixed wing
flying and saw more than 25 years of service before being superceded,
in the Flight's 50th anniversary year, by the current British
Aerospace 146. In June 1969 the Whirlwinds were replaced by two
Westland Wessex. These served for nearly 30 years, together making
more than 10,000 flights and each flying the equivalent of 20 times
around the world, before being replaced on 1 April 1998 by a single
Sikorsky S-76.

In 1995, The Queen's Flight was amalgamated with No. 32
Squadron, which was renamed No 32 (The Royal) Squadron. At the same
time the squadron moved from RAF Benson to its current location at
RAF Northolt.

Nowadays, official flying for members of the Royal
family is provided by BAe 146 and Hawker S125 jet aircraft of No. 32
(The Royal) Squadron, based at RAF Northolt just north west of
London, and the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter operated by the Royal
Household from Blackbushe Aerodrome in Hampshire. In 2000-01, 32
Squadron had two four-engined BAe 146s (each of which carries 19 to
23 passengers) and five twin-engined HS 125s (each of which carries
seven passengers). The Royal Travel Office based at RAF Northolt
co-ordinates use of the different types of aircraft by members of the
Royal family, ensuring that their use is both appropriate and
cost-effective.

In 2000-01, the BAe 146 were used for Royal flying over
142 flying hours, the HS125 for 149 flying hours and the Sikorsky for
459 flying hours. No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron is primarily a Royal
Air Force communications flying squadron. In fact, Royal flying
accounts for less than 20% of the combined tasking of both the BAe
146 and the HS125, which are more commonly used by senior military
officers and Government ministers.

The cost of official royal travel by air is met by the
Royal Travel Grant-in-aid, the annual funding provided by the
Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLGR). In
2000-01, the cost of official royal travel by 32 Squadron was
£1,793,000.

Aircraft of No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron have a
distinctive red, blue and white livery; the Royal Household S-76 is
finished in the red and blue colours of the Brigade of Guards (as
were aircraft in the early days of Royal flying).

Today, the BAe 146 and HS 125 of No 32 (The Royal)
Squadron and the Royal Household's S-76 are used for official duties
by The Queen and, at her discretion, other members of the Royal
family, continuing a tradition begun with a single aircraft more than
60 years ago.

THE
ROYAL FAMILY

MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY

In her role as Head of State The Queen is supported by
members of the Royal Family, who carry out a wide range of public and
official duties. The biographies in this section contain information
about various members of the Royal Family, including early life and
education, professional careers, official Royal work, involvement
with charities and other organisations, personal interests and more

HM THE QUEEN

The
Queen was born in London on 21 April 1926, the first child of The
Duke and Duchess of York, subsequently King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth. Five weeks later she was christened Elizabeth Alexandra
Mary in the chapel at Buckingham Palace.

The Princess's early years were spent at 145 Piccadilly,
the London house taken by her parents shortly after her birth; at
White Lodge in Richmond Park; and at the country homes of her
grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, and the Earl and Countess
of Strathmore. When she was six years old, her parents took over
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park as their own country home.

HRH THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and
Baron Greenwich, was born Prince of Greece and Denmark in Corfu on 10
June 1921; the only son of Prince Andrew of Greece. His paternal
family is of Danish descent - Prince Andrew was the grandson of King
Christian IX of Denmark. His mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg,
the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and sister of Earl
Mountbatten of Burma. Prince Louis became a naturalised British
subject in 1868, joined the Royal Navy and rose to become an Admiral
of the Fleet and First Sea Lord in 1914. During the First World War
he changed the family name to Mountbatten and was created Marquess of
Milford Haven. Prince Philip adopted the family name of Mountbatten
when he became a naturalised British subject and renounced his Royal
title in 1947.

Prince Louis married one of Queen Victoria's
granddaughters. Thus, The Queen and Prince Philip both have Queen
Victoria as a great-great-grandmother. They are also related through
his father's side. His paternal grandfather, King George I of Greece,
was Queen Alexandra's brother.

HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES AND FAMILY

The
Prince of Wales, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh, is heir apparent to the throne.

The Prince was born at Buckingham Palace on 14 November
1948, and was christened Charles Philip Arthur George.

When, on the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1952, he
became heir apparent, Prince Charles automatically became Duke of
Cornwall under a charter of King Edward III dating back to 1337,
which gave that title to the Sovereign's eldest son. He also became,
in the Scottish Peerage, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron
Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

The Prince was created Prince of Wales and Earl of
Chester in 1958. In 1968, The Prince of Wales was installed as a
Knight of the Garter. The Duke of Rothesay (as he is known in
Scotland) was appointed a Knight of the Thistle in 1977. In June 2002
The Prince of Wales was appointed to the Order of Merit.

HRH THE DUKE OF YORK

The Duke of York was born on 19 February 1960 at
Buckingham Palace. He is the second son and the third child of The
Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. He was the first child to be
born to a reigning monarch for 103 years. Named Andrew Albert
Christian Edward he was known as Prince Andrew until his
marriage, when he was created The Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and
Baron Killyleagh.

TRH THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF WESSEX

The Earl of Wessex is the third son and youngest child
of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. He was born on 10 March 1964
and christened Edward Antony Richard Louis at Buckingham Palace. He
was known as Prince Edward until his marriage, when he was created
The Earl of Wessex and Viscount Severn; at the same time it was
announced that His Royal Highness will eventually succeed to the
title of The Duke of Edinburgh.

In March 1989, The Queen appointed Prince Edward a
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.

HRH PRINCESS ROYAL

The Princess Royal, the second child and only daughter
of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Clarence House,
London, on 15 August 1950, when her mother was Princess Elizabeth,
heir presumptive to the throne. She was baptised Anne Elizabeth Alice
Louise at Buckingham Palace on 21 October 1950.

She received the title Princess Royal from The Queen in
June 1987; she was previously known as Princess Anne. Her Royal
Highness is the seventh holder of the title.

In 1994 The Queen appointed The Princess a Lady of the
Most Noble Order of the Garter. In 2000, to mark her 50th birthday,
The Princess Royal was appointed to the Order of the Thistle, in
recognition of her work for charities.

HRH PRINCESS ALICE

Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester is the widow of
the late Duke of Gloucester, third son of George V.

Lady Alice Christabel Montagu Douglas Scott was born on
Christmas Day, 1901 at Montagu House, London. She was the third
daughter of the seventh Duke of Buccleuch, who had been a fellow
midshipman of the future king George V.

Lady Alice was educated at home until the age of 12. She
then went to school at West Malvern, spending a year in Paris before
returning home to be presented at Court in 1920. Lady Alice has
greatly enjoyed outdoor pursuits, including skiing, and has been an
accomplished watercolourist. She also travelled widely, living for
many months in Kenya and also spending time in India on a visit to
her brother.

TRH THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER

Born
in 1944, The Duke of Gloucester is the second son of the late Duke of
Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. He is a
grandson of George V and a first cousin to The Queen. He succeeded
his father as Duke of Gloucester in June 1974.

In July 1972 Prince Richard (as he was then known)
married Birgitte Eva van Deurs from Odense, Denmark at St Andrew's
Church, Barnwell, Northamptonshire. The Duke and Duchess of
Gloucester have three children: (Alexander) Earl of Ulster, born in
1974; The Lady Davina Windsor, born in 1977; and The Lady Rose
Windsor, born in 1980.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester both carry out a
large number of official engagements each year, individually and
together. They undertake visits in regions throughout the United
Kingdom and travel abroad on official visits and to support their
varied patronages.

TRH THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF KENT

Born
in 1935, HRH The Duke of Kent is the son of the late Prince George,
fourth son of King George V, and the late Princess Marina, daughter
of Prince Nicholas of Greece. He is cousin to both The Queen and The
Duke of Edinburgh. The present Duke of Kent inherited his title
following the death of his father in 1942.

In 1961 The Duke of Kent became engaged to Miss
Katharine Worsley and they married in York Minster. The couple have
three children: George, Earl of St Andrews, born in June 1962; Lady
Helen Taylor, born in April 1964 and Lord Nicholas Windsor, born on
25 July 1970.

The Duke and The Duchess of Kent undertake a large
number of official Royal engagements. Each has close associations
with many charities, professional bodies and other organisations.

TRH PRINCE AND PRINCESS MICHAEL OF KENT

Prince Michael was born on 4 July
1942 at the family home in Iver, Buckinghamshire. He was christened
Michael George Charles Franklin and one of his godfathers was
President Roosevelt. He is a cousin to both The Queen and The Duke of
Edinburgh, and his older brother and sister are The Duke of Kent and
Princess Alexandra. Prince Michael's father, Prince George, was the
fourth son of George V and his mother, Princess Marina, was the
daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece.

The Prince is a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian
Order.

HRH PRINCESS ALEXANDRA

Princess Alexandra was born on Christmas Day 1936 at 3,
Belgrave Square, her family's London home. She is the second child
and only daughter of the late Duke and Duchess of Kent (her brothers
are the present Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent). Much of her
childhood was spent at their country home, Coppins, in
Buckinghamshire. Her father was killed in a wartime flying accident
in 1942 when she was just five years old.

MEMORIAL
PLAQUE

HM QUEEN ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER

4
August 1900 - 30 March 2002

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother died
peacefully in her sleep on Saturday 30 March 2002, at Royal Lodge,
Windsor. Queen Elizabeth was a much-loved member of the Royal Family.
Her life, spanning over a century, was devoted to the service of her
country, the fulfilment of her Royal duties and the support of her
family.

HRH THE PRINCESS MARGARET

21
AUGUST 1930 - 9 FEBRUARY 2002

Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret, Countess
of Snowdon died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday 9 February, 2002,
in The King Edward VII Hospital, London.

The younger daughter of King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and sister to The Queen, Princess
Margaret was a hardworking and much-loved member of the Royal Family.

Read more about the Princess and her funeral and
memorial services in this section.

DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES

Diana, Princess of Wales died on Sunday, 31 August 1997
following a car crash in Paris. There was widespread public mourning
at the death of this popular figure, culminating with her funeral at
Westminster Abbey on Saturday, 6 September 1997. Even after her
death, however, the Princess's work lives on in the form of
commemorative charities and projects set up to help those in need.

ART
AND RESIDENCES

THE ROYAL COLLECTION

The Royal Collection, one of the finest art collections
in the world, is held in trust by The Queen as Sovereign for her
successors and the Nation. It is on public display at the principal
royal residences and is shown in a programme of special exhibitions
and through loans to institutions around the world.

ABOUT THE ROYAL COLLECTION

Shaped by the personal tastes of kings and queens over
more than 500 years, the Royal Collection includes paintings,
drawings and watercolours, furniture, ceramics, clocks, silver,
sculpture, jewellery, books, manuscripts, prints and maps, arms and
armour, fans, and textiles. It is held in trust by The Queen as
Sovereign for her successors and the Nation, and is not owned by her
as a private individual. Curatorial and administrative responsibility
for the Collection is held by the Royal Collection Department, part
of the Royal Household.

The Collection has largely been formed since the
Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. Some items belonging
to earlier monarchs, for example Henry VIII,
also survive. The greater part of the magnificent
collection inherited and added to by Charles I was
dispersed on Cromwell's orders during the Interregnum. The royal
patrons now chiefly associated with notable additions to the
Collection are Frederick, Prince of Wales; George III; George IV;
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; and Queen Mary, Consort of George
V.

The Royal Collection is on display at the principal
royal residences, all of which are open to the public. Unlike
most art collections of national importance, works of art from the
Royal Collection can be enjoyed in the historic settings for which
they were originally commissioned or acquired. Much of the
Collection is still in use at the working royal palaces.

The official residences of The Queen have a programme of
changing exhibitions to show further areas of the Collection to the
public, particularly those items that cannot be on permanent display
for conservation reasons. The Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen
will be marked by the creation of two flagship exhibition spaces at
Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Loans are made to institutions throughout the world, as
part of the commitment to make the Collection widely available and to
show works of art in new contexts. Touring exhibitions remain an
important part of the Royal Collection's work to broaden public
access.

Over 3,000 objects from the Royal Collection are on
long-term loan to museums and galleries around the United Kingdom and
abroad. National institutions housing works of art from the
Collection include The British Museum, National Gallery, the Victoria
and Albert Museum, the Museum of London, the National Museum of Wales
and the National Gallery of Scotland.

The Royal Collection is the only collection of major
national importance to receive no Government funding or public
subsidy and is administered by the Royal Collection Trust, a
registered charity. The Trust was set up by The Queen in 1993
under the chairmanship of The Prince of Wales, following the
establishment of the Royal Collection Department as a new department
of the Royal Household in 1987. Income from the public opening of
Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse and
from associated retail activities supports curatorial, conservation
and educational work, loans and travelling exhibitions and major
capital projects. These projects include the restoration of Windsor
Castle after the fire in 1992, the rebuilding of The Queen's Gallery
at Buckingham Palace and the construction of an entirely new gallery
at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

THE ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST

The Royal Collection is the only collection of major
national importance to receive no Government funding or public
subsidy. It is administered by the Royal Collection
Trust, a registered charity established by The Queen in 1993 under
the chairmanship of The Prince of Wales. The role of the Trust
is to ensure that the Collection is conserved and displayed to the
highest standards and that public understanding of and access to the
Collection is increased through exhibition, publication, education
and a programme of loans.

These wide-ranging activities are funded by monies
raised through the Trust's trading arm, Royal Collection Enterprises,
from the public opening of Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and the
Palace of Holyroodhouse and from retail sales of publications and
other merchandise. Current projects funded through the Royal
Collection Trust include the major expansion of exhibition space at
Buckingham Palace and at the Palace of Holyroodhouse to mark The
Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002.

The Royal Collection Trust determines how the income
generated should be used in pursuit of its stated objectives.

The Trust's primary aims are to ensure that:

- the Collection is subject to proper custodial control;

- the Collection is maintained and conserved to the
highest possible standards;

- as much of the Collection as possible can be seen by
members of the public;

- the Collection is presented and interpreted so as to
enhance the public's appreciation and understanding;

-
appropriate acquisitions are made when resources become available.

ROYAL COLLECTION ENTERPRISES

Royal Collection Enterprises Limited, the trading
subsidiary of the Royal Collection Trust, generates income for the
presentation and conservation of the Royal Collection, and for
projects to increase public access. It is responsible for the
management and financial administration of public admission to
Windsor Castle and Frogmore House, Buckingham Palace, including the
Royal Mews, and The Queen's Galleries. Royal Collection Enterprises
also promotes access to the Royal Collection through publishing,
retail merchandise and the Picture Library.

PUBLISHING

Publishing forms an important part of the Royal
Collection Trust's ongoing programme to extend knowledge and
enjoyment of the Collection's treasures. Over fifty books about
the Royal Collection have been produced in recent years, ranging from
scholarly exhibition catalogues to books for children.

In the mid-1990s the Royal Collection established its
own imprint to build a definitive series about the royal residences
and the works of art. These books are written by or in
consultation with the Royal Collection's own curators.

Royal Collection publications are available from the
Royal Collection shops at the Royal Mews, Windsor Castle, the Palace
of Holyroodhouse, the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham
Palace.

All profits from the sale of Royal Collection
publications are dedicated to the Royal Collection Trust.

ROYAL RESIDENCES

The Royal Collection comprises the contents of all the
royal palaces.

These include the official residences of The Queen,
where the Collection plays an important part in the life of a working
palace - Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of
Holyroodhouse (administered by the Royal Collection Trust); the
unoccupied residences - Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace
(State Apartments), Kew Palace, the Banqueting House, Whitehall and
the Tower of London (administered by the Historic Royal Palaces
Trust); and Osborne House (owned and administered by English
Heritage).

Items from the Collection may also be seen at the
private homes of The Queen - Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle.

ROYAL COLLECTION GALLERIES

Dedicated gallery spaces allow works from the Collection
to be presented and interpreted in different contexts, outside their
historic settings, and give public access to items that cannot be on
permanent display for conservation reasons. The exhibitions in
The Queen's Galleries are accompanied by full catalogues, bringing to
the public new research on the subject by the Royal Collection's
curators.

LATEST EXHIBITION NEWS

The new Queen's Gallery at the Palace
of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh was inaugurated by Her
Majesty The Queen on 29 November 2002 and opened its doors to the
public the following day, St Andrew's Day. The inaugural exhibition
is Leonardo da
Vinci: The Divine and the Grotesque (30
November 2002 - 30 March 2003), the largest exhibition devoted to
Leonardo da Vinci ever held in Scotland and the first to examine the
artist's life-long obsession with the human form. All 68 works
come from the Royal Collection, which holds the world's finest group
of Leonardo's drawings.

A new exhibition also opened at Windsor Castle in
the Drawings Gallery on 9 November 2002. The exhibition
celebrates the centenary of the Order of Merit with a series of
original drawings of holders of the honour, past and present. It also
features manuscripts and badges from former holders.

LOANS

Some 3,000 objects from the Royal Collection are on
long-term loan to 160 institutions across the UK and overseas.
These include the Raphael Cartoons of The Acts of the Apostles at the
Victoria and Albert Museum, the Van der Goes Trinity Altarpiece at
the National Gallery of Scotland, and the Roman sculpture The Lely
Venus, at The British Museum.

Every year hundreds of objects from the Collection are
lent to special exhibitions worldwide. These loans support
international scholarship and enable material to be seen in new
contexts.

Touring exhibitions of works from the
Royal Library are an important way to broaden access to items that,
for conservation reasons, cannot be on permanent display. The
millennial exhibition Ten
Religious Masterpieces
was the year 2000's most popular art exhibition outside London,
attracting over 200,000 visitors over the period of its tour.

THE ROYAL RESIDENCES

The residences associated with today's Royal Family are
divided into the Occupied Royal Residences, which are held in trust
for future generations, and the Private Estates which have been
handed down to The Queen by earlier generations of the Royal Family.

Beautifully furnished with treasures from the Royal
Collection, most of the Royal residences are open to the public when
not in official use.

These pages contain details of the history and role of
these Residences and Estates, and provide information for visitors on
opening times and admission prices for those that are open to the
public.

ABOUT THE ROYAL RESIDENCES

Throughout the centuries, Britain's kings and queens
have built or bought palaces to serve as family homes, workplaces and
as centres of government.

The residences associated with today's Royal Family are
divided into the Occupied Royal Residences, which are held in trust
for future generations, and the Private Estates which have been
handed down to The Queen by earlier generations of the Royal Family.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London
residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. It evolved from a town
house that was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by
the Dukes of Buckingham. Today it is The Queen's official residence.
Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by
The Queen, areas of Buckingham Palace are opened to visitors on a
regular basis.

The State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors
during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September. They are
lavishly furnished with some of the greatest treasures from the Royal
Collection - paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin,
Canaletto and Claude; sculpture by Canova and Chantrey; exquisite
examples of Sèvres porcelain, and some of the finest English and
French furniture in the world.

Visits to Buckingham Palace can be combined with visits
to The Queen's Gallery, which reopened in May 2002.

THE QUEEN’S GALLERY, BUCKINGHAM PALACE

The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace is a permanent
space dedicated to changing exhibitions of items from the Royal
Collection, the wide-ranging collection of art and treasures held in
trust by The Queen for the nation. Constructed forty years ago on the
west front of Buckingham Palace out of the bomb-damaged ruins of the
former private chapel, the gallery has recently been redeveloped. It
was reopened by The Queen on 21 May 2002 and is now open to the
public on a daily basis.

The inaugural exhibition of the
redeveloped gallery is a spectacular celebration of the individual
tastes of monarchs and other members of the royal family who have
shaped one of the world's greatest collections of art. Mixing the
famous with the unexpected, the selection of 450 outstanding works
for Royal
Treasures: A Golden Jubilee Celebration
has been made across the entire breadth of the Royal Collection, from
eight royal residences and over five centuries of collecting.

THE ROYAL MEWS

One of the finest working stables in existence, the
Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace provides a unique opportunity for
visitors to see the work of the Royal Household department that
provides road transport for The Queen and members of the Royal Family
by both horse-drawn carriage and motor car.

The Royal Mews has a permanent display of State
vehicles. These include the magnificent Gold State Coach used
for Coronations and those carriages used for Royal and State
occasions, State Visits, weddings and the State Opening of
Parliament. A State motor vehicle is also usually on display. For
much of the year visitors to the Royal Mews can also see the 30 or so
carriage-horses which play an important role in The Queen's official
and ceremonial duties.

WINDSOR CASTLE

Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and
the largest occupied castle in the world. A royal palace and
fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace
today. Visitors can walk around the State Apartments, extensive
suites of rooms at the heart of the working palace; for part of the
year visitors can also see the Semi State rooms, which are some of
the most splendid interiors in the castle. They are furnished with
treasures from the Royal Collection including paintings by Holbein,
Rubens, Van Dyck and Lawrence, fine tapestries and porcelain,
sculpture and armour.

Within the Castle complex there are many additional
attractions. In the Drawings Gallery regular exhibitions of treasures
from the Royal Library are mounted. Another popular feature is the
Queen Mary's Dolls' House, a miniature mansion built to perfection.
The fourteenth-century St. George's Chapel is the burial place of ten
sovereigns, home of the Order of the Garter, and setting for many
royal weddings. Nearby on the Windsor Estate is Frogmore House, an
attractive country residence with strong associations to three queens
- Queen Charlotte, Queen Victoria and Queen Mary.

In celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty The
Queen, a new landscape garden has been created by the designer and
Chelsea Gold Medallist Tom Stuart-Smith. The garden, the first
to be made at the Castle since the 1820s, transforms the visitor
entrance and provides a setting for band concerts throughout the
year. The informal design takes its inspiration from Windsor's
historic parkland landscape and the picturesque character of the
Castle, introduced by the architect Sir Jeffry Wyatville for George
IV in the 1820s.

FROGMORE

Frogmore House lies in the tranquil setting of the
private Home Park of Windsor Castle. A country residence of various
monarchs since the seventeenth century, the house is especially
linked to Queen Victoria. The house and attractive gardens were one
of Queen Victoria's favourite retreats. In the gardens stands the
Mausoleum where Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert are
buried.

THE PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE

Founded as a monastery in 1128, the Palace of
Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is The Queen's official residence in
Scotland. Situated at the end of the Royal Mile, the Palace of
Holyroodhouse is closely associated with Scotland's turbulent past,
including Mary, Queen of Scots, who lived here between 1561 and 1567.
Successive kings and queens have made the Palace of Holyroodhouse the
premier royal residence in Scotland. Today, the Palace is the setting
for State ceremonies and official entertaining.

BALMORAL CASTLE

Balmoral Castle on the Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire,
Scotland is the private residence of The Queen. Beloved by Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert, Balmoral Castle has remained a favourite
residence for The Queen and her family during the summer holiday
period in August and September. The Castle is located on the large
Balmoral Estate, a working estate which aims to protect the
environment while contributing to the local economy.

The Estate grounds, gardens and the Castle Ballroom are
open to visitors from the beginning of April to the end of July each
year, under the management of the Balmoral Estate Office.

SANDRINGHAM HOUSE

Sandringham House in Norfolk has been the private home
of four generations of Sovereigns since 1862. The Queen and other
members of the Royal family regularly spend Christmas at Sandringham
and make it their official base until February each year.

Like Balmoral, the Sandringham Estate is a commercial
estate managed privately on The Queen's behalf. Sandringham House,
the museum and the grounds are open to visitors.

ST JAMES’S PALACE

St. James's Palace is the senior Palace of the
Sovereign, with a long history as a royal residence. As the home of
several members of the Royal Family and their household offices, it
is often in use for official functions and is not open to the public.

KENSINGTON PALACE

Kensington Palace in London is a working Royal
residence. Of great historical importance, Kensington Palace was the
favourite residence of successive sovereigns until 1760. It was also
the birthplace and childhood home of Queen Victoria. Today Kensington
Palace accommodates the offices and private apartments of a number of
members of the Royal Family. Although managed by Historic Royal
Palaces, the Palace is furnished with items from the Royal
Collection.

HISTORIC RESIDENCES

Some of the most celebrated Royal residences used by
former kings and queens can still be visited today.

The Tower of London, begun by William I, is a
fascinating complex constructed over several centuries. It provided
historic Royal families with a residence for more than five
centuries, and was a prison for other Royal figures, including Lady
Jane Grey. The Tower housed the Royal Mint until 1810. There were
also armouries and workshops in which weapons were designed and
manufactured; items including armour worn by Henry VIII remain there
today. The Tower remains the storehouse of the Crown Jewels and
regalia, as it has done for nearly 700 years. Today the Tower is
under the management of the Historic Royal Palaces Trust.

Hampton Court Palace is also managed by Historic Royal
Palaces. Given by Cardinal Wolsey to Henry VIII c.1526, the palace
was a residence for figures including Mary I and Elizabeth I, Charles
I, William III and Mary II, and retains many furnishings and objects
from their times. It houses some important works of art and
furnishings in the Royal Collection.

The Banqueting House in Whitehall is the only remaining
part of London's old Palace of Whitehall. It was created by Inigo
Jones for James I. Charles I commissioned Rubens to paint the vast
ceiling panels, which celebrate kingship in general and the Stuart
reign in particular. It was from the Banqueting House that Charles I
stepped on to the scaffold on 30 January 1649. In 1689 the Prince and
Princess of Orange went to the Banqueting House to accept the crown,
becoming joint Sovereigns William III and Mary II. Today the
Banqueting House is managed by Historic Royal Palaces.

Other historic Royal residences which can be visited
include Osborne House, the beloved home of Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert on the Isle of Wight, and the Brighton Pavilion, former
residence of George IV when he was Prince Regent.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thorpe, Lewis,
trans., Geoffrey of Monmouth: The History of the Kings of Britain,
Penguin Books, London, 1966;

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